The Half-Ghoul Huntress
by Tee888
Summary: The world of Remnant is plagued not only by the Grimm, but by Ghouls as well. When a young Ruby Rose goes through an incident that changes her life forever, how will she go through the world now that she's become a Half-Ghoul Huntress?
1. Prologue: Sharp

== **Sharp ==**

 **Hi this is my first story ever, Enjoy.**

* * *

The World of Remnant. It is a planet not unlike the very earth you and I are living on. It has a beautiful, breathtaking atmosphere, with the greenery of grass and trees, oceans which fill the world with drinkable water, and landmarks such as mountains and volcanoes. The moon was also an outstanding factor, with it being shattered. Despite that, Remnant was quite literally, a Utopian paradise. Humanity was created to live in this world, to survive and thrive, prosper and explore. There were also the Faunus, humans with animal-like traits such as rabbit ears, cat tails, bull horns and the like. All in all, humanity lived in this world, happy to be created here.

However, in this very paradise lurks creatures of evil. Monsters known as grimm roam the lands, destroying all sentient life they came across. As humanity was born into this planet, the grimm became the first of their predators. These darkness incarnates ravaged the humans, hunting them mercilessly day in and day out. Humanity tried to fight back, but the effort was futile. The Grimm were simply too powerful to be controlled.

All hope was assumed to be lost, with chaos spreading across the planet. No one could stop the monsters, or at the very least no human could. One day, the world found a substance that would turn the tide of battle forever. Dust.

Humanity used Dust to combat the grimm, succeeding. The monsters were killed in retaliation, their corpses disappearing once death overtook them. From there, humanity found hope, and fought for it in a large scale battle against the beasts.

The humans and faunus emerged victorious, destroying much of the grimm that lurked. The grimm could not be completely destroyed however, but they were driven back.

Humanity achieved a golden age in this time, quickly advancing in technological achievements. Thousands of years past, with grimm attacks growing lower and lower, but not gone. Civilization developed and Humanity created hunters and huntresses to combat the remaining monsters, and to act as peacekeepers and protectors of order. This profession quickly advanced into celebrity-status, with many people aspiring to become as valiant as them. Combat schools were created specifically for this purpose, alongside normal academies. Not everyone would want to be a hunter, obviously.

Nothing could stop humanity's advancements, with the grimm being held constantly. But as with the primal opposites, darkness always lurked within everything, and everyone. Simple lies were made to gain advantages over one another, creating more negative traits such as jealousy and anger. Everyone ignored the disagreements, knowing that this would not be much of concern, but just like an untreated wound, it eventually caused problems in time.

With such darkness within humans being reigned with iron fists, yet another subspecies of humans emerged, if they could even be called humans. Ghouls.

Ghouls were a major problem within society. Their only source of food was human flesh, nothing else would sate them. With such a dire constraint being placed on them, the ghouls had no choice but to kill humanity to survive. Humanity saw this leeching subspecies unacceptable, leading to creation of the Commission of Counter Ghoul, an organisation created to destroy all ghouls.

No one knows where or how the ghouls were created. Some say they are the humanoid forms of Grimm. Others believe it was a birth defect due to the unsafe usage of dust. All that was known that they plagued the world of Remnant, with them living alongside humanity ever since they fought back.

Life went on for everyone, but the darkness within everyone grew stronger. Disagreements transformed into conflicts. Conflicts transformed into battles, and battles transformed into wars.

Humanity eventually turned against itself, with those simple lies turning into outright selfishness, hatred and much more powerful negativity. Wars raged on between them, leading on to a great disaster which would shake the whole world asunder. The Great War.

Many lives were lost on the basis on individualism, greed, deception and pride. Chaos raged once more, this time without the acts of the true monsters. The war thought everyone who could think one lesson, such a catastrophe must not happen again.

Despite that, disagreements still occured between humanity, and eventually discrimination began among its own kin, the faunus. Simply due to them having animal features, humanity began treating faunus as lower-class citizens. With schools began to accept only pure human students, faunus were given less economic benefits than humans, and even slavery had begun in some parts of the world. This led to rebellion, protests and outcries, with organisations such as The White Fang appearing.

The story of The White Fang started off as a simple peaceful protest group, crying to the government about having less rights than regular humans. Their pleas went on deaf ears, and they continued to be outcasts. The negligence of humanity treating it as a joke of a faunus group, began stirring the darkness within faunus' hearts. In time, a new leader took over, and with it, he completely transformed the once simple protest group, into what people would call a Terrorist Organisation. They used violence in achieving their goals, with murders, robberies and thievery occurring from them.

Today, in a society where the grimm lay low, but the discrimination of faunus and the rampages of ghouls continued, we see the hunger of two ghouls devouring humans within Vale, a kingdom of Remnant.

* * *

"CCG to Heli-203. Intruders reported at the Aqua building in the 20th ward." A radio announced to a helicopter, flying towards the said building. "Intruders believed to be ghouls, I repeat. Ghouls. Proceed to location immediately."

"More... MORE! I want more, I WANT SO MUCH MORE!"

The figure of a woman glowed from the fish tanks, as she dived into a big pile of dead bodies. The woman panted in blood lust, unable to contain her starvation of human flesh. Even with so many bodies. it could only sate her hunger for so long.

"My my, what a mess you have there."

A new figure approached the woman, a monkey wrench in hand. "It's no wonder they call you a binge eater."

"All I want to do is to enjoy my meal. Why must you interrupt me?" The woman voiced out, not even looking at the masked man in a suit as he stood calmly.

"Heh, You don't know who I am do you?" The man replied, amused at the woman's choice of response.

"Of course I know you. You're a miserable freak who enjoys getting a kick out of pestering others."

The masked man gave a big chuckle in response. "I've orders from above. I'm supposed to take you in. Alive. However, I don't believe they would mind if I take a finger from you." The eyes from his mask had an insane glare in them. "Or... Or maybe a limb or two, or even all four of them!?"

His eyes went bloodshot, with visible veins under the insanity of his eyes.

"A man like you carrying such a tiny weapon. Pathetic, isn't it? Surely I'd thought you'll come more prepared." The woman taunted.

With a quick dash, the masked man ran up next to her, giving a hefty warning. "Watch it, or you may lose more than your limbs!" Suddenly, two spiked appendages struck out at the woman from the suited man's back, creating a dust cloud. Using the moment, the woman sent out appendages of her own to the fish tanks by her side, sending water spewing all over the hockey-mask wearing man.

Recovering from the splash, the masked man looked around to see his target gone. He felt his weapon missing and looked to see it gone from his hands. "No... You dare..."

"GIVE THEM BACK YOU THIEF!" The masked man cried out, as the binge eater made her way to the rooftops.

"You're no fun." She muttered, as she threw the weapon onto the metal railing below.

"You've been busy sister." A figure approached the binge eater said slyly, wearing a red hood with a mask that covered his face.

"Hello, brother." The binge eater replied. "How's life? Any reports from Aogiri?"

"Other than mister Jason you saw down there, no. Watch yourself, they're hunting you now." The brother said to his sister with noticeable concern in his tone.

"I don't like laying low, I'll take my chances." She replied to her brother, not a sliver of worry in her voice.

"Some things never change. I'll be infiltrating an academy to gather information." The brother of the two explained his mission to his sister. "Try not to die."

"I should be telling that to you, Betrayer. It's amusing how you got your title really, just some simple backstabs. Why can't you be like me? Being a Binge Eater is much more satisfying." The sister said.

"Nah, I prefer silence. Goodbye, sister."

"Goodbye, brother."

The two of them departed their separate ways. The Kamishiro siblings always had exciting things in life.

* * *

The Cafeteria of Beacon academy was filled with students from all parts of the world, most of them awaiting the Vytal Festival.. Dances, parades and a Combat Tournament were planned, with the transfers eagerly awaiting for it.

Two teams in the cafeteria, Team RWBY and Team JNPR, were happily eating their lunch. One of Team JNPR's members, a short orange haired girl, was casually tossing food towards Team RWBY.

"Whatcha doing?" Asked Yang nonchalantly, currently in her uniform. Her curiosity caught her teammate's attention.

"Nothing." Blake, her teammate, replied as she closed her notebook. She was a faunus with long black hair, but not nearly as much as Yang's, and a black bow on top to hide some of her faunus features. "Just going over notes from last semester."

"Lame." Yang stated, quickly leaning over to gobble a pea that was flung over to her.

The table shook with a bulky book being slammed on it, having the words "Vytal festival Activities, Property of Weiss Schnee" on the cover crossed out and replaced by new words in red marker that read "Best Day Ever Activities!" This caught the attention of her Team, Team RWBY as they looked at their leader.

"Sisters! Friends! Weiss..." Ruby began, earning an irate, "Hey." from Weiss Schnee. She was a pale girl with a scarred eye and an off-center ponytail wearing a small tiara, resembling icicles.

"Four score and Seven minutes ago, I had a dream."

"This ought to be good," Yang noted to Blake, as she quickly gobbled down a cherry tossed at her once again.

"A dream that one day the four of us would come together as a team and have the most fun anyone has ever had, ever!" Ruby announced.

"Did you steal my binder?" Weiss questioned Ruby.

"I am not a crook." Ruby replied, making a peace sign with her hands.

"What are you talking about?" Blake asked

"I'm talking about kicking off the semester with a bang!" She announced.

"I always kick off my semesters with a Yang!" The blonde exclaimed. "Ehh!? Guys? Am I right?"

Her questions were answered with deadpanned looks on her team, and an apple being tossed at her, smacking her face. A jeer from Nora was heard as well, which earned an intense glare from Yang.

"Look guys, it's been a good two weeks and between more exchange students arriving and the tournament at the end of the year," Ruby began, "Our second semester is going to be great! But, classes start back up tomorrow. Which is why I've taken the time to schedule a series of wonderful events for us today."

"I don't know whether to be proud or scared of what you have in store." Weiss commented, rolling her eyes.

"I don't know. I think I might sit this one out." Blake mentioned, with a possible hint of sarcasm.

"Sit out or not, I think that however we spend this last day, we should do it as a team!" Weiss proclaimed. Standing up from her seat, Weiss began to say: "I for one think that..."

She was rudely interrupted by a pie comically being throw at her from Team JNPR's direction.

With all attention focused there, Nora the obvious culprit, quickly pushed the blame on her teammate Ren. Ren, who was a black haired teen with pink eyes and a strand of pink hair standing out, simply face-palmed at his friends act.

* * *

"Whew, that's harsh."

"I know! We were fighting side by side, she was super fast and I threw a banana at a guy which sound gross but also awesome!"

"Nice!"

The two yellow and blue colored students chatted endlessly as they walked by the cafeteria; Sun Wukong, and Neptune Vasilias. They were part of a new team that transferred to Beacon for the Vytal Festival, Team SSSN.

"Right? And the best part is, she's a Faunus." Quickly realizing what he said, The yellow monkey faunus quickly covered his mouth with his hand. With the secret already out however, he instead quickly exclaimed: "But that's a secret okay!"

"Got it." Replied the Blue colored student.

"And not a, "I'm gonna go tell Scarlet the second Sun turns his back secret," I'm talking secret secret."

"Whoa, chill man, chill okay? I got it."

"You'd better. I just don't want to screw this up, you know? The people here are the coolest! No offense to you guys." Sun explained.

"None taken." Neptune smoothly replied.

"Yo guys!" Said a new voice.

"Huh? Oh hey there Razor." replied The Blue haired student, his attention caught by the newcomer.

"Razor! Hey there buddy! Haven't seen you since JJ's vomit incident." Sun greeted.

"Please don't remind me, Sunny." Replied the newcomer.

Razor Rivers, a fellow student from Haven, the same place Team SSSN was from, caught up with his old friends. He wore a black T-shirt with a red jacket that had black colored shoulder markings that look not unlike those of Grimm masks, and black jeans with red lines flowing through it. His black coloured hair with streaks of red on the tips swayed in the direction of the wind, contemplating the spiky hairstyle he had.

"Ack, I told you not to call me Sunny in front of other people! It's Sun Wukong." Retorted the monkey Faunus.

"Eh whatever. I'm just here for the Vytal Festival, nothing more."

"Us too. I was about to introduce Neptune to some friends I know. They're just in here, and I'm really excited for him to meet them." Sun explained. "So be cool, okay? You're gonna be cool, right Neptune?"

"Dude." Neptune said simply, making a pose with his arms crossed, teeth gleaming as he smiled.

"Good point."

"Well then, what are we waiting for? Let's go." Razor said.

The trio walked into the cafeteria only to hear the cries of Beacon Students as they fled from the place. "Food Fight!" One of them cried.

What they saw was not what they expected from an academy of Vale, or one of the most respected combat schools in the world for that matter.

"I'm queen of the castle! I'm queen of the castle!" Proclaimed Nora Valkyrie, standing on stacks of tables piled up to make a fortress.

"I'm gonna use the restroom okay guys? Guys?" Razor questioned, but got no response from the Awestruck Yellow & Blue duo. "Yeah whatever." He muttered, quickly running to the side towards the restroom.

All he could hear before he entered the restroom was the sweet voice of a girl in red proclaiming: "Justice will be swift, justice will be painful, it will be delicious!"

"Delicious?" Razor thought. "Heh, sweety. Delicious it is." Razor stared at the girl with the red cloak for a few moments.

"Delicious..."

In the male restroom, Razor looked at himself through a mirror. He smiled at his delicate handsome features, admiring himself for a few moments, closing his eyes as well.

Razor muttered to himself. "Hmmph, It's been awhile... Almost two months actually" The Redhead rubbed his arm. "I've got to find a source soon, I can't let my instincts go awry now." Razor sighed. He recalled how he survived Haven for so long undetected. Deception, betrayal and backstabbing got him here. He killed off so many people he knew, most of them were in his way. A few weren't, but who would blame him for a few casualties?

As he continued to examine himself, he heard a loud gush of wind that concluded with a small tremor within the bathroom. Curious as to what it was, Razor walked towards the bathroom door and peeked out to see a light-blonde haired lady with a white long-sleeved suit with a black business skirt and a tattered cape with black outside and purple inside, making gestures with a riding crop. His eyes eventually fell on the objects being gestured to, scattered tables organizing themselves in a neat yet magical manner, and concluded that this professor is fixing whatever mess that happened when he was away.

"Children, please." The professor Glynda Goodwitch began, adjusting her glasses. "Do not play with your food!"

Teams JNPR and RWB both composed themselves, the N student burping aloud and the missing Y student falling from the ceiling onto one of the tables.

"Let it go." Another, calmer voice said as he placed his hand on her shoulder.

Glynda sighed. "They're supposed to be the defenders of the world."

"And they will be, but right now they're still children. So why not let them play the part?" The gray haired man asked, walking away. "After all, it isn't a role they'll get to have forever."

The man, Headmaster Ozpin, walked towards the exit but not without looking at the male student in red and black. Razor noticing the Headmaster looking at him, and said a simple greeting as a manner of goodwill. Ozpin smiled at this gesture, and returned his gaze toward the exit.

 _This place is sure going to be interesting, isn't it?_ Razor thought to himself.

"Now, who shall I target..." He muttered to himself.

Razor panned back towards the two teams, and found himself looking at the short-haired girl for Team RWBY

Ruby Rose. He had heard of her many times. She was the one that interfered with Torchwick's plans, and interrupted his most recent Dust shipments. He considered his choices. He could kill Ruby Rose to stop her, or let her go to avoid suspicion and find food instead.

His stomach growled, as if it was making the decision for him.

"Well fellow red, I'm sorry you're gonna die." Razor thought to himself sarcastically. He lost the feeling of remorse a long time ago, a new hunger claiming him ever since.

The last day before the 2nd semester at beacon starts would be the best day ever. The tragedy that would come however, would be nothing but a ghoulish nightmare.

* * *

 _End._

 _Thanks for reading. It means alot to me._

 _Special and very thankful thanks to Challos for rewriting this prologue for me._


	2. Chapter 1: Hell's Deception

**Chapter 1**

 **== Hell's Deception ==**

 ** _~ If I had author notes I would write them here_**

I'll try to update every three days. Today - (16/9/2015) Next update (19/9/2015)

Enjoy.

* * *

"Ironwood certainly loves bringing his work wherever he travels." Glynda muttered.

"Well, running an academy and a military makes him a busy man." Ozpin replied. Three Bullhead aircrafts fly by the tower, making loud screeches in the air. "But yes, those are a bit of an eyesore."

With the Vytal festival soon beginning, students were not the only one travelling to Vale. James Ironwood. The General of Atlas military and head of his own academy in Atlas traveled to Vale alongside his students to have a long chat with his old friend. The renowned General often kept to himself, taking charge of defensive matters. With that known he decided to bring his entire defense force to Vale with his trip, much to Glynda's dismay. Today however he awaits in the elevator rising towards the Beacon Headmaster's office.

Chirping beep sounds rang multiple times, catching Ozpin's attention. The headmaster saw a hollow-message with the words "Access Requested" on his deck. "Come in." he says, granting access.

On Que, The General, a well dressed man with a white overcoat, a gray undercoat along with a red tie, entered the room from the tower elevator. He had a fingerless glove on his right hand and a what appears to be a metal plaster upon the right side of his forehead.

"Ozpin!" The general cordinally proclaimed as he walked towards the Headmaster.

"Hello, General." Ozpin replied, standing at attention.

"Please, drop the formalities." The general stated. The two men began approaching each other to shake hands. "It's been too long."

Noticing the light-blonde professor in the room, General James Ironwood began to greet: "Glynda! It has certainly been too long since we last met."

"Oh, James!" Glynda responds with false enthusiasm. "I'll be outside" she mutters to Ozpin.

"Well she hasn't changed a bit", Ironwood stated.

As Glynda walks out of the room, Ozpin turns to his desk, intending to grab his coffee.

"So, what in the world has brought you all the way down from Atlas? Headmasters don't typically travel with their students, for the Vytal Festival. " Pouring a cup of coffee, he offers the cup to the general has he ends his speech.

"Well, you know how much I love Vale this time of year. With you hosting I thought this might ba good opportunity for us to catch up." Ironwood states, accepting the coffee and adding some sugar cubes from his pocket canteen.

Sitting down on his chair, Ozpin pours himself more coffee. "I can certainly appreciate the quality time between friends, however, a small fleet outside my window has me concerned." Ozpin replies.

"Well, concern is what brought them here." The General explains.

"I understand that travel between kingdoms have become increasingly difficult, and while that is so there isn't much conflict going on. The Grimm are under control and the Ghouls have not caused a major incident yet." Ozpin said, sipping his coffee.

"Oz, you and I both know why I brought those men." Ironwood states once more.

Ozpin with sigh, takes a sip of his coffee and sets his cup down. "We are in a time of peace. Shows of power like this are just going to give the wrong impression. We don't want to attract unwanted attention, do we?"

"But what if Qrow said is true..."

"If what Qrow said is true, we shall handle it tactfully." Ozpin ensured, raising his index finger to emphasize his point. "It's the Vytal festival. A time to celebrate unity and peace. I suggest you not scare people by transporting hundreds of soldiers halfway across the continent."

"I'm just being cautious" Ironwood states.

"As am I. We will continue to train the best Huntsmen and Huntresses as we can. If ghouls are your concern then the CCG will take care of them. Ozpin said, placing his coffee on the table.

"Believe me, I hope so." James Ironwood said. The General begins to walk towards the elevator door, but turns around to question the headmaster once more. "But ask yourself this," General Ironwood began. "Do you honestly believe your children can win a war?"

Ironwood walks into the elevator as it's doors close, bringing the General to the ground floor.

"I hope they never have to" Ozpin mutters, staring at the window behind his desk and taking another sip of his coffee.

* * *

The Beacon Academy Library. A place where students come to read, learn and study. The Library was expansive, containing much information from all sources possible. You name it, Biographies, Grimm Biology, Ghoul taxonomy, basically everything. However today, a certain duo of a team are playing a certain popular card game on scrolls. Team RWBY was seated upon a desk, tending to a bet of who would buy this evening's Dinner. Team JNPR was situated right across the room, most of whom were reading. One was sleeping with a large snooze bubble however, having given up studying the boring books.

"Hmm..." Pondered the young huntress in red. "So many possibilities..." Ruby Rose contemplated her next move. Should she attack her opponent directly in the face, or shall she use her minions to trade with the enemy forces.

"All right... All right! Yang Xiao Long, prepare yourself for battle!" Ruby exclaims, preparing to play her cards.

"Bring it on, sis!" The opposing blonde proclaims, slamming her elbow on the table.

"I deploy, Lord Jaraxxus!" Ruby announces, making Yang look back in shock. "Looks like you aren't winning yet, I still have fifteen health points from this minion!"

"You face Jaraxxus! Eredar lord of the Grimm Legion!" The card announces, as it replaces Ruby's hero with itself.

"With the Grim lord taking over my character, I get his weapon too! I'll attack your weakened hero myself too! Attack my minions!" Ruby said, preparing to command her minions to damage Yang's hero.

"You fiend!" Yang said, feigning shock.

As Ruby ends her turn, Yang prepares to counterattack. With her hero at 10 health, she cannot risk holding back anymore.

Looking at her cards and her minions, she realizes what she can do to win back the game. She couldn't use her minions to attack Ruby, as she had Taunt minions down. Instead, she could do something that could bypass them.

"I summon the firelord, Ragnaros!" Yang announces, placing her card on the table.

Ruby squeals in shock as the minion announces his awakening. "BY FIRE BE PURGED!"

"Oh... you think that alone will win the game?" Ruby recomposes herself. "If he attacks the wrong minion you might just fall by my forces!"

"I'm not finished yet, sis." Yang proclaims, raising up a spellcard. "Fireball!" Yang sends a spell that dealt seven damage to Ruby's hero, bringing Jaraxxus down to eight health.

"GAH!" Ruby could not understand how Yang did that. "But but Fireball costs four Dust and deals only six damage! How could you do that!" Ruby questions in a frenzy.

"Well you did leave my Emperor Thaurissan alive for two turns..." Yang responds, grinning at her turnaround. "Plus you left my Bloodmage Thalnos on the board."

"Hmm! Well then." Ruby straightens herself as she gets her bearings. "You only win if Ragnaros hits my valuable Jaraxxus! If he hits anyone of my minions, you will lose!"

"That's just a chance I'm willing to take." The dedicated Blonde says, praying silently that Ragnaros attacks Ruby's hero.

"DIE INSECT!" The Firelord minion announces, preparing to send out the attack that would declare who would win the game.

The match ended with a deflated Ruby lying on the table crying, as her poor Lord Jaraxxus was destroyed by Ragnaros the Firelord.

"And this means Ruby is buying us all dinner!" Weiss Schnee announced, as A cheer was heard on Yang's scroll while a miserable key was heard on Ruby's.

"Nooooooooooo!" Ruby shouts one final cry as she is forced to check how much money she has.

"Oh, um, what just happened?" Blake Belladonna asked, not paying attention to the drama and tension that just occurred.

"Ruby's buying dinner cause she lost against me!" Yang childishly said in a cheerful manner.

"...Right" Blake replied, returning to her book.

As Team RWBY chatted among themself, across them was Team JNPR with most of them reading. The leader was Jaune Arc, a teenage blonde with dark blue eyes and messy hair, with chest plates and shoulder armor along with a black shirt and blue pants. Jaune put textbook down as he saw Team RWBY finish their game of Duststone. He was originally reading a comic book, but his teammate Pyrrha confiscated and replaced it.

"Hey, can I play?" Jaune asks, walking towards the team.

"Sure, but I can't play with you. I need to go buy some dinner stuff for my team. I lost Yang's bet..." Ruby frowned. The entire team was too lazy to go get their own food, especially after the massive food fight that happened earlier in the morning. The team agreed to have a round of Duststone to settle it. Ruby smirked at the amount of Watermelons used during the fight. You could fill up fifty punches from them and still have some left!

"Are you sure?" Weiss inquires, doubting the boy's ability. "This game requires a certain level of tactical cunning that I seriously doubt you possess."

"Uhh, you lost against us several times in the past cause you missed lethal." Yang stated, earning an annoyed grunt from the Schnee Heiress.

"Bring it on, Ice Queen!" Jaune said, smirking with confidence. "I'll have you know that I have been told that I am a natural born leader."

"By who, your mother?" Weiss retorted sarcastically.

"A-and Pyrrha!" Jaune replied. The redhead overhearing her name being said, waved towards the table greeting them. Jaune getting desperate, put his two hands together to plead with The Ice Queen. "Come on, let me play against you for a game!"

"I'm not facing some incompetent dork. I have pride to uphold you know." Weiss once again retorted. "Why not? Are you too afraid I might win you?" Jaune talked back, attempting to grind her gears and cogs.

"Hmmph, fine! I'll face you. You shall fall before the might of my Mage deck!" Weiss said, accepting Jaune challenge.

Before they could begin, three figures approached Team RWBY... and Jaune.

"'Sup losers" Team RWBY turned to the voice to see a trio of students walk to them .

"Hey Sun!" Ruby greets. She turned to look towards the Blue and Red students next to him. They were new...

"Ruby, Yang, Blake, Ice Queen." Sun introduced, earning a pout of Weiss "Why does everyone keep calling me that?" she complaint.

Ignoring the rant, Sun continued. "I never got a chance to introduce you to my old friends.

"Um, aren't libraries for reading?" The Blue student, Neptune inquired. This earned a distant thanks from Ren across the room, and Nora randomly saying "Pancakes" as she woke up from her nap.

"Shut up, don't be a nerd." Sun retorted.

Neptune made noises with mouth to stop Sun. "Intellectual", okay? Thank you." The blue haired student turned to Team RWBY. "I'm Neptune" he introduced.

"And I'm Razor." The Red student introduced.

"Oooh, sharp." Yang muttered, earned a giggle from Ruby and an annoyed look from Razor.

"So Neptune, where are you from?" Weiss asked, unusually nervous as opposed to her prideful self.

"Haven" Neptune answers, walking towards The Ice Queen. "And I don't believe I've caught your name, Snow Angel." Jaune seeing this, jealously yelled to himself an "Are you kidding me?"

"Um, I'm Weiss." The Snow Angel replied, feeling her heart rate increase slightly. Her other teammates looked at her, mild amusement from seeing her acting unusually nervous.

"Pleasure to meet you." Neptune said, his tone as cool as ice, making Weiss' heart beat increase significantly.

During this time, Sun turned to look at the book Blake was reading, and was mildly surprised to see a book he had saw in the past.

"You reading the Black Goat's egg, eh?" Sun said. He saw his younger brother read that book once when they were younger, and he remembered himself childishly stealing the book and put it on a high shelf. Sun chuckled to himself at how his younger bro didn't know how to use his Faunus abilities to get it at the time. Monkey Faunus could jump higher than most humans anyway.

"Yeah. It's about serial killer who had a son as he tries to live with his mother's murderous urges. I never thought you would know of this, Sun." Blake explained, questioning how Sun knew of this dark themed book.

"Nah. I just stole it from my brother and put it somewhere he couldn't reach. Recognized the cover." Sun said, recalling those fun antics he had once again.

"Right..." Blake deadpanned. "Can't expect much from you." Sun simply gave off an annoyed groan. "Always sunshine and rainbows..." The yellow faunus muttered.

Razor Rivers turned to the two who weren't talking to his friends. Only Yang Xiao Long and Ruby Rose weren't talking, and he'd rather speak with a Young introverted red wearer than a Loud obnoxious yellow blonde. Besides, little red riding hood was his target anyway.

"Hello there." Razor began, preparing to give Ruby some sweet talk.

"Um, hi there Razor. I'm um, Ruby. Where are you from?" Ruby said, somewhat nervous with the handsome looking guy right beside her.

"Same place as Uranus here, Haven." Razor answered. His choice of nickname for Neptune got a stare of disgust from him. Razor noticing this, returned back with a smirk.

"Oh, so you are um... Haven?" Ruby asked, not sure what else to say.

"Of course, Rosey". Razor smoothly replied, his nickname for Ruby giving her a mild blush. "Unlike Sunny there, I know how to wear clothes." Razor boasts. "Hey, I may have moved to in Mistral but I grew up in Vacuo. That place isn't really a shirt and tie kind of place." Sun retorted. "And it's Sun Wukong! Please!"

"Whatever Fallen Monkey God." Razor replied, earning an annoyed stare from him. "What were you doing before we arrived here?" Razor asked, looking at the game was on her scroll.

"Oh! That's Duststone by Snowstorm Entertainment. It's a really fun game, you should try it!" Ruby brightened up, able to find something to talk about.

"Interesting, is Warlock your favorite class?" Razor inquired.

"Yes! How did you know that?" Ruby said surprised. Razor played Duststone? She thought to herself. Awesome!

"You have Lord Jaraxxus on your defeat screen." Razor answered, pointing over to her game which was not closed. A storm brewed over Lord Jaraxxus' portrait, which was broken with deflated confetti horns. "Eek! I forgot to close the app!" Ruby exclaimed, quickly closing the application and locking her scroll.

Razor looking at how fast Ruby was moving made him chuckle. He hadn't seen such a childish behavior in a long time. It reminded him of happier times before he ever entered Beacon. "Too bad you are going to die." Razor thought to himself. "Poor souls like you deserve more."

Ruby saw Razor chuckling to himself, and smiled at the joyfulness he had. She was always an optimist, and seeing other people happy always made her happy as well. "So what are you gonna do later, Rosey?" Razor said, with a tinge of smoothness in it.

"I'm going to buy dinner for my team. Yang won me in a game of Duststone and we made a bet..." Ruby explained. "It's cause I'm just too good." Yang said, emphasizing the vowels of good. Ruby seeing this, simply frowned. "I'll win you one day. I mean it, Yang Xiao Long! This isn't over!" Ruby declared. "I'll be ready for a duel anytime you want sis. Bring. It. On." Yang replied. The two sisters stared at each other, their grudges over a card game influencing their actions.

"Woah woah woah girls girls girls." Razor said, trying to ease the tension. He had saw teams as close together as this before, with their friendships and rivals just competing with one another. He calmed himself, they were going to die like those teams. Better to have food just wiggle and die then struggle and strike, right?

"How about, I go along with Ruby to buy dinner for you all?" Razor suggested, smiling vividly at his own suggestion. Team RWBY looked at him with varying looks. Ruby was nervous, twiddling her thumbs in attempt to calm herself. Weiss had a narrow glare at the unknown ghoul, raising an eyebrow. Blake had the same stare as Weiss, only without the eyebrow raise. Yang however, saw this as an opportunity.

"Sure thing! Ruby would LOVE your company! It gets lonely in the dark after all!" Yang exclaimed, appearing between the two and squishing them together. "YANG!" Ruby exclaimed, her face as red as roses as she struggled from Yang's grasp. "Um, okay then it's settled. I'll join Ruby in buying dinner for your team!" Razor said, his mouth slightly muffled with Yang's arm over it. "Please let go of us though, I can't feel my face." Razor said, feeling himself losing breath by the second.

"Alright! Razor and Ruby, the red coloured duo!" Yang said, letting go of both of them. The moment Ruby was freed she pulled her sister towards a bookshelf, Yang barely struggling.

"YANG! What are you doing!?" Ruby whispered with annoyance. Yang was literally shipping the two of them together, with their liking of colours too! "What? I'm only trying to get you more friends, or are you simply awestruck by Mr. Sharp there?" Yang replied, with a hint of seductiveness in her voice. "NO NO NO NO NO NO!" Ruby suddenly squealed, her face much more red than simply roses. Recomposing herself, Ruby began to explain to Yang. "Look, I see Razor as a friend, not a boyfriend! You can't just go pairing us up after we just meet up!" Yang after hearing this, simply chuckled. "Ahh, fine fine... Mr. Knife there won't be your boyfriend today, but maybe in the future?" Yang states. "Wha, -ahh -ahh! Whatever! You can go ship us all you want but I won't be dating him for reals!" Ruby proclaims. "And Mr. Knife isn't a good nickname!"

Razor, who was watching the little squabble, had broken into a heavy laughter. "Ahh, sisters. Always nice and close with each other." He mutters to himself. Weiss overhearing this, looks down towards her side.

Ruby walked back to Razor, and seeing him laugh had made her even more nervous. "Okay then Razor! Let's go get dinner for Team RWBY!" She announces. "What would you all like to have?" Ruby asked her fellow teammates.

"I'm not hungry. Some drinks would do." Weiss said, her eyes still looking down to the table.

"Some fruits would be nice." Blake says, looking at Ruby with her book closed on the table. Ruby glanced at the book and noticed there was a black bookmark that had cat ears on the top. "Cute."

"Give me a Chicken Burger with extra Pepper spice on it!" Yang exclaimed, her eyes glancing at her stomach. "I'm really hungry." she said, and as if on que, her stomach growled.

"So..." Ruby began. She knew what Yang always liked, but she was deciding on what fruit to give Blake. "Would some apples do, Blake? I hear they are ripe this month of the year." Ruby asked. Blake responded with a nod. She then returned to her book, opening where her bookmark was at.

"I'll get a peachy drink for Weiss and that appears to be all!" Ruby concluded. "Great, shall we go Ms. Rosey?" Razor said, acting like a refined gentlemen that was ruined by the nickname he called her. "Um, alright great let's go!" Ruby exclaimed, pulling Razor with her to get away from the snickering Yang.

"Heh, Rosey Ruby." The Blonde muttered to herself.

* * *

The red duo travelled down the streets of Vale. Ruby and Razor looked around the city, Razor most interested. He had never really taken a tour of the city, having been moved directly to Beacon without a chance to fully enjoy the place. Ruby had been here many times, but seeing the city every once in awhile still made her feel joyful inside. The huntress checked her location, they had to walk a pretty long distance to reach the Burger store where Yang's favourite burger was made. Ruby, not wanting to walk in silence with the Red Haven student, tried to muster up some small talk.

"So um, how does Vale seem to you?" Ruby asked, a little hesitation in her voice. She had never felt this nervous before. She may have felt a little bit bad at how her teammate Weiss was towards her at first, but they eventually got along pretty well. She silently recalled the time where they slapped hands in sync at Blake's remark at Weiss' "dress." _"It's a combat skirt!"_

"Well, Vale is a pretty chill place. Definitely not as cold as Mistral though, Brrrrgh." Razor said, with a little stress in the first word of his sentence. He wasn't wrong to say that, as Mistral was normally a very cold place. Razor sighed to himself, the freezing temperature of his homeland had intefered with his feasts one time too many. He hated how easily the food got cold, having always it warm and delicious in the past.

"I guess so. I've lived most of my life in Vale, so I kinda know how the place here works." Ruby replies. The duo continued to walk in silence, both of them having nothing much to say. "Well, there have been some stuff going on. Just a few months ago I fought some criminal at a Dust shop." Ruby began, attempting to break the awkward silence between them. "Hmm? You fought a criminal before eh?" Razor replied, curious of what could have transpired there. "Yeah. Roman Torchwick and his gang tried to rob me, but I could take them. Roman got away though..." Ruby explained, looking down to the floor. She always wondered how Roman could escape all the time. "That was also the time when I got into Beacon!" Ruby remembered, brightening up.

"Oh... So I guess you could say Roman kinda helped you get into Beacon in a way." Razor said, implying that his actions were the cause of them walking side by side right now. "Now that you put it like that, yeah it kind of does seem so." Ruby replied, thinking about the past.

"Hey, could that be the dust shop where you encountered them?" Razor pointed towards the newly reopened dust shop. It had the sign of "From Dust Till Dawn" on a bronze board with the words "Newly re-opened!" below it on a banner. "Yeah that's right!" Ruby said, recalling how she took down Roman's pawns. "First off, there was this guy who came up to me when I was reading a magazine and then I was all like "Put your hands in the air!" and I was like, "Are you robbing me?" and then I made him fly out of the shop after he continued threatening me and then..." Ruby recalled her memories enthusiastically as ever, describing the encounter. As she was going into the childish rant, Razor noted that Ruby was while young, able to hold off against the infamous Roman Torchwick and his minions. _"I'm gonna have to kill you when your offguard."_ The Mistral student thought to himself. He didn't want to cause a scene, even in the night.

Razor, trying to change the subject, pointed towards an incoming Burger Joint. "Grimmish Burgers.", a restraunt named after the souless monsters that roamed the world of Remnant. It was quite a parallel now that Razor thought about it. Grimm often killed humans, so humans decided to show how it was like to kill Grimm without having Hunter training. "Hmm, interesting." He muttered to himself.

"Ahh! That's the place. Let's get Yang's burger." Ruby said, tugging Razor's jacket and pulling him towards the human's diner place. Razor hated thinking of the consumables man ate, having a very bad experience in the past. In an attempt to not enter the store, Razor struggled. "Ruby, how about I wait outside. I happen to be um... Midly claustrophobic." Razor improvised, pointing at the packed food joint. "Um, if you insist. I'll get them myself. Don't run off!" Ruby said, mildly curious as to how someone as cool as him could have claustrophobia. _"Hey, if I had claustrophobia I wouldn't force people into it."_ Ruby thought to herself.

"Urrrgh. I'm so hungry." Razor muttered, out of hearing range of the Huntress. "I cannot, cause a scene yet. I must... hold it back. Gather information, that's all." The male student in red told himself. His mission must not be compromised by his instincts

After purchasing Yang's dinner, Ruby and Razor walked to the direction of her remaining teammates prefered dining areas. "The simple wok, "noodle house." Weiss and Blake didn't prefer the main courses there, but they loved the sides such as the fruits and drinks served there.

The two R's walk to the stroll was rather uneventful, aside from Ruby spontainiously talking about her backstory. Razor found himself snickering at Ruby's childishness yet again. "And then Weiss and I rode a Giant Nevermore! It was so scary, but fun at the same time!" Ruby herself was proud at herself for breaking out of her normally introverted self. "Must be the red." Ruby thought to herself.

Once they reached the noodle store, they decided to take a break there. The sun was setting, but there was still quite a bit of time before night truly rose. Ruby ordered herself a cherry drink and a simple Apple. Noodles weren't her type of pick either. She had offered to buy something for Razor, but he declined, saying that he had quite a hefty lunch. "A hefty lunch two months ago, yes." he thought to himself.

Razor felt annoyed at the awkward silence returning as they sat by the noodle store. He had to gather information about her and her team. he always asked this question to people he encountered, as a manner of gathering their opinions and personality. Today he wanted to ask this question huntress next to him, before her inevitable demise by his hands. The old shopkeeper entered the door to the noodle kitchen, and at that point Razor decided he should just get out with it. "So... Ruby. I've been meaning to ask you this." Razor began nervously, putting his hand on the back of his head. "What is it?" Ruby wondered, chewing her apple. She was expecting a question about her backstory or her adventures, but she wasn't expecting a question on her opinion. "What do... What do you think about Ghouls?" Razor asked hesitantly.

Ruby swallowed her fruit and thought about the question. She joined Beacon to become a Huntress in order to fight Grimm and protect the innocent, but she did not really factor Ghouls into her life. The Comission of Counter Ghoul handled them, and she accepted that. Ruby pondered about the facts that seperated Ghouls and Grimm. The grimm were literal darkness, having no soul, no feelings or remorse at all. They lived to destroy mankind, and as long as mankind existed the grimm would be there as well. The ghouls however, were different.

The ghouls had souls, they had feelings and they had remorse. Sure there were some reports of extreme murders and violent bloodbaths, with some of them being crime lords such as Roman Torchwick, but other than that they were the same as Humans. Their only flaw was that they were forced to eat humanity, and she could not really blame them. They were not grimm, most of them did not kill for the sake of killing, they killed for the sake of living. The Huntress, having composed her thoughts, was ready to give her answer.

"Ghouls are people. They are humans who are forced to eat others to survive." Ruby began, Razor looking intriguied for the rest of her reasoning. "They are forced to kill just to live, not like the grimm. They just kill for the sake of killing. I think that Ghouls can live alongside humanity, though it would be inconvienient..." Ruby scratched her head, trying to muster up the words to explain her thoughts on the situation.

"Ghouls can be bad though, but then again all of us can. Look at the White Fang and Roman Torchwick! They aren't ghouls and yet they still be bad." Ruby said, earning a look of amazement from Razor. "We may not be the doves, but we can and will protect the peace! We are here to protect the ones we love, even if they are human, faunus, ghoul or grimm. For as long as they have evil intentions, we will stop them!" Ruby proclaimed, making her points. "Although we always have to kill grimm, no choice there." The huntress in red corrected, ending her speech with a smile.

Razor was flabbergasted. A human that believes Ghouls and Humanity can coexist? That's new. He was here to gather information of Beacon Academy and his students, and instead found himself reconsidering his place. This girl gave those species a chance, and Razor was dumbstruck at such a young lady that had so much potential. He hadn't cared for the lives of his food before, and this girl certainly was making him think twice.

The belly of Razor suddenly growled, and the redheaded student put his hands to his head. He could no longer contain his hunger, and he didn't want to become like his sister. _"I... will eat later... Not now... LATER..."_ He told himself, attempting to suppress his instincts. He needed to eat sooner or later, or else he would cause a massive scene.

"Razor?"

The voice of the Young Huntress awakened him from his episode. Razor opened his eyes to see Ruby's innocent grey eyes looking at him with concern. "What's wrong?" She asked, worry befalling her.

"Um, just trying to um..." Razor stuttered. Within himself he had a decision to make, kill this girl and survive another two months, or let her live and go through ghoullish hunger. "I'm just having an um, bad flashback of sorts... Yeah, just that. Nothing to worry about. I'm fine." Razor said, withholding his murderous instincts. "Um, Okay. Well that's what I think of ghouls, you satisfied?" Ruby said, twiddling her thumbs.

"Yeah. Your answer's neat. I'm Just trying to get opinions of whoever I meet." Razor replied, calming himself by breathing at a steady pace. "Your's is perhaps the most accepting answer of all. You're willing to accept the Ghouls into society?" Razor questioned, having fully calmed down from his internal fight. "Mhm!" The huntress muttered. She didn't want to repeat her speech. Making complex sentences like that was usually reserved for her school essays.

"Well, I guess you're done with your apple." Razor pointed out. Ruby was holding only an apple stem left. "In that case let's get back to Beacon. Your sister must be really hungry." The conflicted student suggested, which The huntress agreed with a nod.

The two got off their seats as Ruby dug into her wallet to pay the shopkeeper.

 _"Really hungry"_ the last two words words Ruby said bounced back and forth in his head.

 **"EAT"** His instincts called out to him, and he could faintly see a red shadow in his sight.

 _I... WILL. STOP...!_

 **"KILL"**

 _"No... The mission!"_

 **"CONSUME"**

 _"I must not cause a scene...!"_

 **"OR DIE"**

 _"...Fine."_

* * *

The duo walked from the Noodle shop to the city area. There were dozens of denizens around at this time of the day, or rather evening. The sun had all but set after their trip to the noodle store. Ruby silently frowned, she was going to make her sister wait. Razor walked by Ruby, also silently frowning. His frown however was because of his dilemma. His instincts tore and tattered against his sanity, to wilt the rose or to let her bloom. Razor could not bare the torment, he had to do it soon before he could wait no longer.

"So Ruby, do you have a weapon with you?" Razor asked, sounding as innocent as he could. "Not really, I left my Scythe in my dorm today. We were gonna have the best day ever, planned by me today!" Ruby replied ethusiastically. "Why do you ask?" Ruby questioned. Did Razor want to have a spar or something?

"Just curious..." Razor said, scratching his right arm. "Plus you said you encountered that Roman guy at this timing." he explained, making it as believable as possible. "Oh don't worry. We setback Torchwick awhile ago. He's probably recovering from it still." Ruby assured.

The two walked downtown towards Beacon. Razor saw a dark alleyway and on the moment, suggested to Ruby that they should go down that path. "Why should we go through there?" Ruby wondered. "I saw the place when we first came here. I think that route is a shortcut to Beacon." Razor explained. "You aren't wrong, but... um..." Ruby hesitated. She didn't want to disagree with Razor, she was kind of fond of him, he had this love of red colour like she does, and his face looked so ha- "No no no, just friend." Ruby told herself.

"Sure let's go there."

This was his chance. The hunger within him was about to break out, and had to use this chance to have a meal. One student missing wouldn't cause panic, right?

The two walked into the alleyway with dim lights glowing within it, giving the alley a very eerie atmosphere. Ruby was creeped out of this place. If Razor had claustrophobia why did he decide to come here?

"Um, Razor. I think we should get through here quick." Ruby recommended. She really did not want to be here right now. "Huh? It's fine, heh. We won't get killed here." Razor reassured, the tone of voice betraying his words.

"I think I'll go back to Beacon first. I'll see you there..." Ruby quickened her pace, she believed was going to get claustrophobia herself if she stayed here any longer

"Wait hold on, Ruby!" Razor called out.

"Yes, Razor?" Ruby turned back to look at the Red coloured Haven student

"I... I want to make a confession." Razor began. The hunger killing him from the inside.

"A... what? What confession are you talking about?" Ruby walked back towards Razor, curiosity growing within her.

"It's about you. I have this certain liking about you, sweety." Razor admitted, the sanity he longed to retain quickly disappearing.

"Eh?" Ruby was surprised. She was not expecting this for she saw him as a friend.

"No no no, not like that. It's just... it's just..." Razor muttered, the pain his stomach felt increasing.

"What is it, Razor?" Ruby asked hesistantly. Something was going on with Razor, but she couldn't tell what.

"It's just... You... It's... Just..." Razor attempted to speak. He could not control it. He was going to eat.

Suddenly Razor lunged and hugged Ruby. Ruby, not expecting this, squealed and struggled in return. He was going to eat.

"You've been the kindest girl I've ever met, ever! You're sweet, you're kind, you're cute and you love red! We have so much in common..." Razor said, his grasp of Ruby growing tighter by the second. He could wait no longer.

"That's... very sweet of you... Razor but... you're hold me... too... tight...!" Ruby stumbled, trying to gasp for air. Her aura failing to protect her from the hug due to the pressure being placed on her.

"I've been so lonely for so long. Now that I've met you I... I..." Razor weakened his hold on Ruby, as red streaks began appearing in his eyes. Ruby watched in horror as his eyes turned Black with a red Iris, signifying only one thing.

 _"I'm sorry."_

Razor was a Ghoul.

"I CAN FINALLY EAT **MY** DINNER!"

* * *

Razor, with a big lunge, chomped upon Ruby's left shoulder. Blood poured out of the open bite mark splashing all over the area and onto both of their faces. Ruby fell down to the ground, completely stiffened at this realisation. Razor closed his eyes and licked his lips, clearing the girl's blood that dripped upon his mouth. "Delicious... You are, no?" Razor began, his tone uncomprehendable.

Ruby felt her mouth dry up. She could not bring herself to say anything. Razor was her friend! How did this happen!? How did she end up like this!?

"No no no no no no..." Ruby exclaimed within her mind. She got up from the floor to see Razor beginning to giggle to himself.

"No no no no no no..." Ruby stepped back from Razor, his giggles slowly turning into a chuckle.

"No no no no no no..." Ruby quickened her pace, as the ghoul began to laugh manically, completely drunk from the taste of flesh.

"No no no no no NO!"

At this moment. Ruby Rose Ran. She did no believe it. Razor was a kind cool guy, right? He would never have thought of doing this at all!

"NO NO NO NO NO NO!"

Ruby realised what Razor thought of her the whole time.

Food.

Ruby never believed she would meet such a creature in her life.

Ghoul.

Grimm were incarnations of evil which lacked a soul. Ghouls however were poor humanoids forced to eat one another, they were forced to be evil.

Evil.

Ruby began to sprint away from the bloody ghoul. She ran as fast as she could, never looking back, never thinking back, never stopped running.

Run.

Razor was an Evil Ghoul.

NO!

"HAHAHAHAHAAAAA! RUNNING? PATHETIC!" Razor finally recovered from his drunken state, only to see his dinner run away from him. Food wasn't supposed to run, it was supposed to lie down and be consumed! This revelation only stirred up hatred within him. He was going to eat her, and she was going to die.

Ruby tried to use her semblance, but instead she found herself squealing in terror within her mind. She couldn't. A wound as deep as the ghoul's bite drained her energy immensly. She could not even feel her aura, and she regretted not bringing her baby Crescent Rose along with her.

"RUBY ROSE YOU WILL DIE! BWAHAHAAHAHAAAAAA" Razor exclaimed manically. Seeing that Ruby was getting further and further from him, Razor resorted to using the ability only Ghouls had. The Kagune.

Razor's back began pulsing red, continuing until four tentacle-like limbs were exposed. The Kagune of Rinkaku. Immediately after, Razor began to chase Ruby. His speed in the ghoulish form overpowering the weakened Rose.

"COME BACK, I'M NOT FINISHED!" Razor exclaimed, his pace bringing him dangerously close to the young huntress.

The chase eventually led them to a construction site, barren due to the time of the night.

"No no no no no no -ack!" Ruby cried, as Razor brutally pierced Ruby's shoulder. A shower of blood spewed all over the floor, leaving a trail of crimson red.

"Please no!" Young Ruby Rose pleaded. Her legs finally gave up as her stamina depleted. Both of her shoulders were bleeding as blood all over her shined bloodied over the moonlight.

"DELICIOUS FOOD NEEDS TO BE TENDERED!" Razor used his kagune to wrap around the weakened Ruby's limbs. Holding her up, Razor brought the Huntress to his face.

"SAY DIE!" Razor manically yelled, an inhumane look on his face.

"NO! Please Razor! I trusted you!" Ruby screamed.

"THAT'S NOT THE RIGHT WORD! IT'S PRONOUNCED DIE!" Razor pierced Ruby's abdomen with his Kagune, blood spewing out everywhere around them. Ruby screamed in pain, that hurt her so much that she wanted to wilt and fall. Razor's ghoulish behavior completely betrayed what Ruby first thought of him.

"I'm going to say this ONE MORE TIME. SAY DIE!" Razor yelled, his kakugans staring into Ruby's grey eyes.

"...No...I wi- ACK!" was all Ruby could mutter up before she felt red liquid being expunged out her mouth.

Razor angered by Ruby's defiance, threw her towards the barrier of a building under construction. The huntress crashed onto the steel hard metal, breaking some bones and much of her already gone will.

"I will ask you this one more time, sweety!" "SAY DIE!" Razor exclaimed once more as he approached her. However with the condition Ruby was in, there was no response this time. "Hmm? Dead already? Pathetic." Razor muttered to himself. "Oh well... heh. Oh well... Hah..."

Ruby could barely hear or see Razor talking to himself, her weakened state taking a toll on her senses. She could not hear much of what the Ghoul was talking about.

"Heheh... Ghwweeehhahaa... HAHAHAAHaaaa..." Razor's chuckles turned into uncoordinated laughter.

Ruby Rose, 15, First year Huntress of Beacon Academy, killed by a Ghoul. She felt ashamed of herself, she had so much more to do, so much more to learn, so much more to protect.

"Yang... Weiss... Blake..." She pleaded to herself. "save... me."

In her dying breath, Ruby panned over to see Razor's ghoulish face, with the typical ghoullish eyes all of them had.

"They... they all die so fast. When will I ever find someone who does not die instantly!?" Razor exclaimed to himself. His first meal in two months did not even bring up a good fight. "Why did she not bring her weapon!? THIS WOULD HAVE BEEN SO MUCH FUN!" The ghoul within commanded him without restraint.

Ruby's vision now completely faded.

Suddenly, a rattling sound was hear from the area.

"YOU ALL DIE TOO QUICKLY!" Razor screamed to himself. His ghoul instincts completely taking over his sanity.

Steel beams hung by ropes, which were loosely attached, quickly snapped apart.

"YOU ALL BLEED SO MUCH!" Razor yelled, the blood from Ruby flowing toward the mad and hungry ghoul.

The beams quickly descended towards the ground.

"YOU ALL DESERVE TO BE CONSUMED BY THE GHOULS!" Razor announced, his eyes twitching at the thought of eating.

The beams' shadows quickly consumed the unaware psychopathic Ghoul.

"AND THUS YOU SHALL ALL DIE! NOW DIE RU-" Razor's manic cries were interrupted with the sounds of metal above him. The ghoul panned up to see those Steel Beams about to drop onto him.

"Oh sh-" was all Razor could mutter before he was crushed by the fallen construction materials. Dust clouds flooded all over where he was standing, metal clangs sounded throughout the area. Razor's Kagune quickly faded by the impact, and all could be seen was his ghoullish eye returning to normal under the steel cold rubble.

"how... could..." was all the formerly mad drunken ghoul could mutter up, before he felt darkness overwhelm him. "This is how I die." Razor's thought rang throughout his mind. "This... is how... I die..."

"Oh my god...! Someone call an ambulance!" Voices could be heard throughout the area, the crash attracted the attention of many. Bystanders quickly flocked towards the area, taking out their scrolls and snapping photos.

Razor's last moments was of this final regret. Under the cold steel, he felt himself losing control of his limbs.

"Sorry." Razor muttered out, as his eyes fell limp.

* * *

 _End_

P.s. My profile picture is not a good representation of this story. If someone could like, get a Ruby image with a ghoul eye for my story, thanks.


	3. Chapter 2: Arrogant Cookies!

**Chapter 2**

 **== Arrogant Cookies ==**

Enjoy dis.

Also walls of text. I have no idea how to format this... yet.

I may reduce the next update dates to 2 days. I have no idea how all the timezones work, so expect updates to be around the 48 hour - 72 hour range.

 **Fun fact: This fanfic was posted on my birthday, 13th September. Happy belated birthday to me~**

* * *

Ruby felt herself floating.

She felt herself in a big blue ocean, floating aimlessly throughout. She felt nothing but peace within there, only hearing the watery waves flow by her ears. "Where is this place...?" She wonders. It was so peaceful.

"Her abominal organs are ruptured. We will begin operating immediately!" A voice resounded throughout her peaceful ocean. Ruby heard none of that, only basking within the calmness of the place. "Where am I?" Ruby pondered, still floating through the sea. "Wasn't I strolling home with Razor?"

"Prepare for organ transplant." "Without consent of her family?" The voices continued, Ruby managed to pick up the words resound through her mind. "Organ? "Family?" Ruby repeated, unsure of what they meant. She only knew of how peaceful it was here. "What are they talking about?" Ruby questioned. She had no answers for her own questions, they did not make a tinge of sense.

"Doctor Kanou will you really do this!?" "I will accept full responsibillity! We cannot lose another life!" Her domain suddenly turned blood red, but Ruby still felt calm. From behind her, a new figure appeared. It was a male with red hair, a rather familiar looking one. "Transfer his organs into her!" The voice echoed, failing to make any reaction out of Ruby.

"It's... warm." Ruby described. The male figure placed his hand onto the girl's left eye. "What is this...?" Ruby asked once again, curiosity growing within her. Darkness suddenly overtook her, but it didn't bother the girl one bit. She was peaceful.

Ruby opened her eyes.

* * *

Ruby felt disgusted.

Not at anyone, or anything. Well it was something, but it didn't make sense to her at all.

It was the hospital food, some bread with peanut butter. Normally it would taste nice, but today it just felt awful. The bread felt like eating a road cone and the peanut butter tasted just like leaves. "Must be the peanut butter." Ruby innocently concluded. She was only fond of one type of peanut butter, but the bread didn't make sense. She loved bread!

"Is that all your going to eat?" questioned the nurse. "I guess..." Ruby replied. She hadn't eat much of the food anyway, just a small nibble. The huntressed look at the nurse, her brown hair tied by a low ponytail. She noticed the pink clip at her fringe, and it reminded her of Nora's weapon. "Your friends came over to visit today." The nurse said, trying to brighten up the atmosphere. "That's nice." Ruby said, appreciative of her concerned teammates. "Are you sure you're not eating anymore?" asked the nurse, as she was about to carry the barely eaten food away. "I'm sure. I just don't like the peanut butter, I guess." Ruby replied, earning a nod from the nurse.

The hospital ward's door slide opened to reveal an aged old man with white hair and lots of wrinkles, but at the same time he looked wise. "How are you feeling, Ruby Rose?" asked the doctor as the nurse exited to put Ruby's food away. "I'm great actually. Never felt better." Ruby said, trying look okay. She felt her stomach growl, which only could mean that she was hungry. "Hmm?" Doctor Kanou noted the noise that was made. "You look hungry, Miss Rose. Why haven't you eaten anything?" The doctor tried to ask his patient, but got no response from the nervous young huntress. "There doesn't seem to be anything particularly wrong. What's the matter?"

"The food is... um, the food tastes bad, Doctor." Ruby said, trying to not offend the cooks that made the food. "It tastes like rubble, to be frank..." Doctor Kanou made a curious grunt. "Hmm? Are you saying our cooks are bad, Miss Rose?" He said with obvious sarcasm. Ruby, not able to tell it was a joke, frantically scrambled around her bearings to explain to the doctor what she really meant. "What? Oh, No no no, your cooks are excellent chefs, really. They made a really cute cupcake for me earlier! It was so adorable!" The doctor simply chuckled at his patient's childishness. "It's just that..." Ruby began, thinking of how to him. "My sense of taste feels, off. I guess it must have been the peanut butter earlier...! Heh..." Ruby joked. She was very picky about peanut butter anyway.

"Your taste buds may be coping to your surgery. I did have to do surgery on you. It should simply be a psychological effect your brain is trying to cope with." The doctor elaborated. "You don't have to remind me though. Eeugh." Ruby just didn't feel right. She thought about the circumstances that brought her here though. She was going to buy dinner for her team, she walked in a dark alleyway and then- "Doctor! What happened to Razor!?" Ruby exclaimed. She had mixed feelings about what he had done to her. She accepted that Razor was a ghoul and that he ate only to survive, but the way he treated her that day was as if he was preying since the day she first met him.

On that note, she shouldn't tell everyone that he was a ghoul. Ruby wanted Razor to die without being suspected of having ulterior motives. It was the least she could do.

With a hefty sigh, Doctor Kanou began to reveal what happened. "Your friend was killed instantly by the impact of the beams, I'm sorry." Ruby felt herself tear up inside. Razor was dead? He was supposed to kill her, how did he die? Wait a minute. "Impact of the beams?" Ruby questioned, she didn't know that part. "Yes. You two were reported at an incident at a construction site. It appeared that steel beams were about to fall onto the two of you, but your friend acted in the moment and pushed you out of the way, taking the major brunt of it all." Ruby didn't know how to react. Even after attacking her, Razor still saved her? That didn't make any sense!

"You appeared to be severly injured by the accident. By the time we got you to the hospital, some of your organs were completely ruptured. Fortunately none of them were vital." Ruby expressed relief in the form of a sigh. She was lucky, and she was grateful for being lucky. "However" The doctor continued, his expression turned serious. "You could not live missing your liver, kidneys, and some other important organs for daily function, say intestines." Ruby made a "Bleh" sound at the last word being said. She didn't really want to study much about Biology. It made her sick. "With no other choice, we had to transplant... some organs into you. I hope you are okay with that."

"Oo- Oh..." Ruby was midly disgusted. Other people's organs were inside her? Eww...

"Anything else you want to ask, Miss rose?" The doctor pat Ruby's back, showing concern for the young lady. "Today is the last day before you are discharged. Your uncle paid the fees for your surgery, so you are allowed to leave without paying anything yourself."

"Nope, I'm good. Thank you for saving me, doctor." Ruby gratefully replied.

* * *

Ruby was discharged from the hospital with immense gratitude to the staff. Doctor Kanou and his colleagues personally escorted the young huntress until they reached the ground floor, which from there Ruby made her leave.

"Thank you again! Bye!" Ruby thanked the hospital staff once again, waving at them as the get her belongings and left. Ruby checked her scroll for the time. It was 9:12 am, and her team was having classes at this time. She couldn't really go to class right now, so Ruby decided to stroll about the city. Ironicly going off course was what caused Ruby to encounter the event with Razor in the first place, but she didn't care. She had nothing else to do at the moment, and she hadn't really toured some areas of Vale in a long time.

Soon Ruby found herself in the residential district, in the southeastern 20th ward. She wondered how did they get classified by numbers. Vale was a large city, but why so many wards? There were like... 25 of them? Ruby realised now why there were labled. Even she forgotten the exact number.

Ruby walked along the ward aimlessly, and started to get quite drowsy. Walking alot after being in a hospital bed for three days really took time to get back to. Looking around her, she saw a coffee shop three blocks down. Ruby wasn't a coffee person herself, she preferred Milk. However during the time when her team was searching for Blake, they had stopped by one to catch their breath. It was Weiss' suggestion anyway, and Yang also wanted to take a coffee break. Ruby tried a bit of coffee and found it was really really bitter. After some persuasion and assistance from the Ice Queen however, Ruby managed to get used to the taste. She just needed some sugar cubes in it apparently.

Ruby looked at the coffee shop. It was a two storey building, with the words "Anteiku" on a red banner by the ground door. It looked plain, peaceful and pleasant, there to tend to the needs of people needing relaxation, as she did. She looked at the windows of the top floor, and saw it was quite empty. Ruby decided to enter the store. She did need a breather anyway.

Climbing up the stairs, Ruby opened the entrance to the cafe, hearing a bell ring as she pushed it open. She saw the peaceful, quiet cafe interior. It had hardwood plank floors, concrete walls with intricate paintings hung on, some tables with different coloured chairs for each and glass doors with a balcony by the right side. This was the definition of pleasant. Ruby took a seat at the tables by the windows, wanting to enjoy the greenery that was the plants on the other side.

Soon, a raven haired waitress came up to take her order. "What can I get for you?" She asked, notepad in hand. "A plain coffee with sugar cubes in it please. Oh, do you have cookies?" Ruby said, wanting to eat her favorite snack. She wondered how do Cookies taste like when they were dipped in sugary coffee. "Delicious..." She drolled at the thought. "Sure thing. Is that all?" The waitress asked. "Yup." Ruby said, a smile on her face.

Ruby sat alone in the coffee shop as she pondered on what to do next. She decided she had strolled on for long enough, and wanted to return back to school by noon. That was when classes ended, with a two hour long recess before afternoon classes began. She did want use that time to catch back up with her friends anyway, and wanted to surprise them by being in her dorm as they walked in. Her thoughts were interrupted by the sounds of the doorbell ringing. Ruby looked over to two teenagers enter the cafe. One of them had dakr hair not unlike Blake's and he wore a dark blue jacket over a light blue buttoned shirt with a white collar and stale green jeans. He looked nervous, with his two hands holding a book over his chest. She recognised the book, The Black Goat's Egg. She remembered seeing Blake read it when she had her Duststone match with Yang.

The other one was much more confident. He had dark blonde hair, with headphones at rest by his collarbones. "Hmm, those headphones look like mine." Ruby thought to herself. The blonde boy wore a black jacket that was colored bright yellow on from the shoulder area to the wrists along with dark green pants,. He slap his friend with the palm of his hand on the back. "I'm just saying. Do you really want to have your first date in a bookstore? A freaking bookstore?" He laughed, teasing his poor friend.

"I'm just saying Hide, it's not that bad! We both like books, she would be thrilled at that idea!" His friend replied, trying to explain to his obnoxious friend. "Kaneki, please. Just go to a diner restraunt or something. A bookstore is not the place to make out!" Hide said, earning a mild blush from Kaneki. "Make out! What, no! I'm not making out with her on first date!" Kaneki replied, trying to turn down Hide's suggestions as they walked to the table behind Ruby. "Ahh, Kaneki. You really don't know how treat the ladies do you?" The blonde teased, testing his poor friend's resilience. Ruby overhearing this conversation, couldn't help but blush too.

"Here's your coffee and cookies, miss." The raven haired waitress returned to Ruby, a tray in hand. "Oh, thank you." Ruby said, happy her orders have arrived. The waitress served Ruby two plates, one with coffee and one with cookies. Ruby looked at the kind waitress and couldn't help but try to return her kindness. "Excuse me, what is your name?" Ruby asked. Getting someone's name was always a good was to start a conversation.

"I'm Touka, Kirishima Touka." The waitress replied smiling. "I'm Ruby, Ruby Rose." Ruby kindly smiled as well. They both appeared to be introverts, and it was rare for Ruby herself to ask someone else for their name than vice versa. "Enjoy your meal." Touka nodded to Ruby, before proceeding to the table behind her. Ruby thought about Touka's full name though. She must be in the part where of town where people had their family name in front.

Ruby looked outside the window, the leaves of the trees still green as ever. Ruby liked this place, it reminded her of her home with her parents. Calm, peaceful, all the things that made her feel at home. Ruby picked up her cookie and stared at it, intent to eat it rising as ever. Suddenly she heard the loud voice of the blonde earlier, and looked back to Touka running away. "Hmm, how lovely." The blonde muttered, swooning over the innocence of the waitress. "Don't get me kicked out!" Kaneki replied, unhappy with his friend's behavior. "So whose the lucky lady anyway? Was it the waitress?" Hide mused. "It's not her, although she is kinda cute..." Kaneki muttered with honesty. "Oh, I know who it is!" Hide concluded.

"Sooooo Hey there, pretty lady! How's it going?" Ruby was startled by the loud voice of the blonde talking to her. "Um, Hi there." she replied, maintaining her calm composition. "Are you dear, Kaneki's date?" Hide initiated, giving the huntress a blush in response. "What? N-No! I don't even know who Kaneki is..."

"He's this dolt over here!" Hide pushed Kaneki to sit at the seat across Ruby, much to his displeasure. "H-Hide! Stop playing matchmaker!" Kaneki said, also blushing at his friend's nonchalant attitude at his own actions. "You too go kiss and make up now, I'll be off. Have fun with your partner!" Hide said, standing up preparing to leave. "Hide!" Kaneki yelled, still unamused by Hide's choice of words.

The headphone wearer placed his payment onto Kaneki's book, and strolled off toward the door, not without saying goodbye to his "sweet Touka". "Goodbye, delusional Kaneki!" He said, waving his arm vividly as he closed the door, leaving Ruby and Kaneki sitting with eat other, in a very awkward situation.

"U-Um, Hi." Ruby started, attempting conversation with the boy across her. "My name's Ruby Rose. Nice to meet you!" the huntress introduced herself, removing the awkward feelings she felt before and returning to her normally cheerful state.

"I-I'm Kaneki, Ken Kaneki. It's nice to meet you too." Kaneki greeted. "I'm a student at Kamii University, what are you?"

"I'm a student in Beacon Academy, and I got in two years earlier than everyone else!" Ruby replied, smiling as happily as ever. "Woah, you must be a great student then. Isn't Beacon Academy a school for training Hunters and Huntresses?" Kaneki asked, amazed at Ruby attending such a prestige. "Yup! I'm a huntress in training, to become a protector and keeper of peace and order! It's gonna be soooooo cool once I graduate! Being all like, "Don't worry I'll protect you from the evil grimm!" and getting all the adoration from bystanders!"

"Wow, you sure have a life to live. I couldn't even hurt a fly, much less compared to a Beowolf." Kaneki said, astonished at the future the happy girl had planned for herself. "I just want to do well and live a happy life. I have nothing too major planned in my life, maybe I'll work as a writer. I love the works of Sen Takatsuki, like this one, The Black Goat's Egg." Kaneki lifted up his book to show Ruby the cover. "Oh, I love books. My sister used to read them to me when I was little, though not the same genre as well, your book. I know a friend who loves Sen's works though, her name's Blake! I'm sure you'll both get along if you meet!"

* * *

Ruby and Kaneki continued to talk about much stuff in their life, such as Hide comparing Kaneki to a lamppost, and Ruby's first meetings with her team. "You're the leader of your own team at such a young age? Wow, to compare it to me I'm just another average Joe." Kaneki said, surprised at the huntress's achievements. "Don't worry, you'll find your adventure sooner or later!"

Eventually their conversation took a rather darker dive. Kaneki mentioned that he never knew his father, and that his mother passed away when he was young. "Well, I'm sorry for your losses. I lost my mom when I was little too, and it affected my father, sister and I a lot. I still miss my mother's cooking, the cookies she made were the best." Ruby said, sharing her losses with Kaneki. "You liked your mom's cooking too? We have a lot in common, don't we?" Kaneki said. "It seems so, actually."

"One thing's bothering me though, whose your date? I'm just gonna be your friend though, so sorry for um... friend-zoning you." Ruby said. "Don't worry, you're a great friend to me." Kaneki replied. The both of them smiled, happy that they've earned a new friend. "M-My date's gonna be a beauty with purple hair. She comes here all the time, and I'm hoping she does so today. I... I think I'm ready to ask her out."

The two of them turned to look at the door, and saw a petite young woman with long purple hair stroll into the cafe. She had a purple V-neck and a white dress that suit her figure attractively. Kaneki couldn't say anything but look at the elegance the woman had as she sat by the tables by the wall.

"Go get her pal, I believe in you." Ruby said, encouraging her new friend. "T-Thanks. I'll see you around!" Kaneki said his goodbyes, and walked carefully to the purple haired beauty. Ruby couldn't help but giggle seeing Kaneki approach Rize nervously. She would have felt the same way if Yang pushed her to a random boy. Glancing over, she realized that the date had the same book as Kaneki's. _"They sure are gonna get just fine."_ Ruby thought. Returning to her food, Ruby picked up the cookie she almost forgotten to eat, and took small nibble out of it.

"...!?" Ruby couldn't explain it. The cookie tasted bad!? Did this cookie have the hospital brand peanut butter too!? Ruby didn't know, but she immediately spit out the cookie piece onto the table. "Why must this happen to me... hmm..." Ruby sighed in defeat. Her brain must really be coping with her surgery, she concluded.

Ruby decided to try something else. Spotting the coffee, she raised the coffee to her mouth. The aroma making her satisfied already. Taking a small careful sniff, trying to not repeat the cookie casualty, Ruby sipped the coffee. She was half expecting it to taste like rotten peanut butter, but to her surprise, it tasted quite good! Drinking the rest of the coffee, Ruby slowly but surely planted a love for coffee within herself. "Delicious...!" She commented.

Now Ruby wanted to try experimenting with the two consumables. She dipped the nibbled cookie and dipped the bitten part in her drink. With a small bite, she ate the part of the cookie covered in delicious coffee. The coffee covered cookie had a mixed feeling, however. It felt very bad, but it didn't feel as bad as having the cookie alone. With a deep breath, Ruby courageously swallowed the food, hoping that she could cope with it.

The urge to vomit suddenly coursed through her body. The huntress immediately regretted swallowing the cookie, her face turning green in bewildered disgust. Ruby dashed towards the toilet, almost knocking off cups of coffee by the tables near her. She spent the next five minutes in the bathroom in attempt to vomit out the cookie piece, her head faced towards the sink.

 _"Why is this happening to me..."_ Ruby thought, as she tried her hardest to cough it out, her mind filled with difficult questions. Could psychological effects really do this to a person, where they couldn't even eat proper food? Why did the coffee not harm her? Why was the cookie so disgusting!?

* * *

After managing to get the abnormally horrible cookie out, Ruby returned from the bathroom to her seat. It was still quite early, and she really wanted to enjoy some peace. Ruby sat at the other end of her table, thinking that it would help her get better. With nothing much to do, Ruby looked at the virtual screen on the ceiling above her, and looked at the news channel that was on. "Multiple bodies were found in the scene along with Ghoul saliva. The incident is being investigated as a Ghoul Crime, and the ghouls involved are suspected to be Jason and the Binge Eater." Ruby discontinued watching. She didn't want to be reminded of her own incident. Ruby yawned, the whole cookie dilemma really tired her out. Realizing what she needed, she got up and brought her coffee to the main coffee stand.

"Excuse me, Miss Touka!" She called. Ruby wanted to request something from her. Touka turned around from to face Ruby, giving a smile. "I would like some sugar cubes in this coffee, may I have them?" The huntress asked the waitress. Touka picked up two containers of Sugar cubes, one filled with brown cubes and one filled with white. "Sure, would you like the brown ones or the white ones?"

"Ooooh, brown sugar cubes. Lemme try some." Ruby said. Touka took out a sugar cubes and dropped them into the coffee. "These should suit you for at least an hour, so don't go around eati-" Touka was cut off by the sound of cups smashing, sighing as a result "I'll deal with that. Enjoy your coffee. "Thank you!" Ruby said. The huntress looked at the container of Sugar cubes, and with a childish smirk, took four more out of it and dropped it into her coffee. Giggling as a result, Ruby returned to her table with her coffee. Ruby took a big drink out of the coffee, and found her hunger instantly quenched. "Woah, hunger reducing sugar cubes! Awesome!" she thought.

With her hunger sated and coffee drunk, the huntress decided to lay on the table for a few minutes, no one would bother her, since this was a coffee shop. It wasn't peak hour at the time, so she wouldn't be taking up people's space. Ruby closed her eyes, and took a nap.

Time flew by, with Ruby unknowingly making cute snoring sounds in her sleep. Eventually her back hurt from the position she slept. With a big yawn, the dazed the huntress looked at her scroll. "Ten thirty!?" Ruby had relaxed for way too long, the atmosphere had drowned her sense of time! With hurried rush, Ruby pulled out some coins, enough to pay for two items, but not bothering to exactly how much she put out. Ruby put the coins on the cafe table and said her goodbyes. "Please come again, Ruby!" Touka said, taking in Ruby's money. "Thanks and goodbye!" Ruby replied, running to the door and quickly exiting.

 _"What was with that girl?"_ The waitress asked herself. She saw the Huntress's cookie dilemma, and would have thought better she knew she couldn't eat it. Touka just shrugged it off however, she had seen weirder before.

 _"Gotta go gotta go gotta go!"_ Ruby repeated. She dashed from Anteiku towards Beacon's direction, she had to be at her dorm before noon! She told herself that she would surprise them, but now she was surprised herself at how things turned out.

* * *

Ruby ran all the way from the southeastern part of Vale towards the airship docks. Beacon was situated at a cliff side, so the recommended route was by air It was possible to travel by land now, however. When Ruby had first arrived there she admired the view it had from the airship, and she would be willing to experience it again. However she was in a rush now, and Ruby really wanted to surprise her team.

Boarding the airship, Ruby paced around nervously. Typical airship trips were ten minutes to Beacon, but Ruby didn't want to be late. The huntress checked her scroll, and was mildly surprised at the time. _"Eleven thirty, hmm!"_ Ruby felt more confident, there was enough time for her to reach her dorm!

Other than seeing the sights around, the trip was rather uneventful. Jaune wasn't there to vomit all over the place today. Ruby giggled to herself as she remembered how that turned out. Her first meeting with "Vomit Boy" ended up with Yang frantically scurrying away from the poor airsickness induced Blonde. She had puke on her shoe!

Ruby looked around. There weren't many outstanding faces, most of which were people Ruby barely recognized. Two figures in suits carrying briefcases however, caught her attention. "They were Ghoul investigators!" Ruby was awe-struck. "Actual doves in an airship to Beacon! Sweet!" Ruby mentally told calmed herself, trying to not burst into untamed joy. She didn't get Glynda's autograph the first time they met, with how circumstances turned out at the time. However there wasn't a fight going out between two forces, so Ruby had to take a chance!

Ruby carefully approached the two figures from behind, walking into hearing range. "Um, excuse me!" She said, her anxiousness and eagerness growing by the second. "Are you two Ghoul Investigators?" The two figures turned around to see a young huntress in red barely containing her excitement. "Yes we are." The tall one of the group answered. He was a young man with black hair with teal eyes, with a muscular build that can be seen from a Black suit with a green tie. At the collar of his suit was a necklace with a cross, similar to the ones Ruby's cloak had. "Um... um... Can I have your autographs!?" Ruby exclaimed, her excitement finally breaking free.

"Woah now, miss." The other figure of the duo proclaimed. He wore a grey trench coat over a white dress shirt, a red necktie and a pair of white gloves. His posture was hunched over, with long white stringy hair and sunken cheekbones creepily giving Ruby creepy reminder of a skeleton. His uneven eyes, one squinched and the other belched out, stared at the young huntress in red. "Aren't you a courageous one to ask us for an autograph." He said, the tone of his voice making Ruby's spine shiver. The Investigator stared at Ruby's figure, examining her from head to toe. "Um... Well... I wanted the autograph of a Huntress before but she didn't want to so..." Ruby muttered, trying to keep a straight face. "This guy is really really creepy..." She noted.

"Ahh, you want an autograph? Why didn't you say so! Sure I'll give you one." The hunched-over investigator pulled out a pen and a notepad. He wrote his signature before tearing out the piece and giving it to Ruby. "Um, thank you." Ruby muttered. The attitude of this creepy man really didn't make her comfortable. She looked at his colleague, more eager to get his autograph. "May I have yours too?" Ruby asked, much more enthusiastically at the tall handsome man. "Sure." He replied. Ruby gawked at his coolness, he said that without breaking a sweat! "Kureo, may I have a pen and paper?" He turned to his mentor, requesting those material. "Ahh, Amon. Always a gentleman." Kureo replied, passing his items. "And... Here you go miss." Amon gave a note with his signature to the girl, and she screamed internally with delight. "Oh, thank you thank you thank you!" It was the first autographs she had ever gotten from Ghoul Investigators, and boy was she pumped.

"Koutarou Amon and Kureo Mado... It's a pleasure to meet you! How do you fight ghouls? What are those suitcases for? Ooh! Are they transformable weapons!? How do you make them?" Ruby couldn't control her excitement, bursting out with questions all about the doves. Amon had sweat-dropped at the girl's enthusiasm, while the elder one chuckled at the childish behavior. "Calm down, girl. We're Ghoul Investigators, but you can refer to us as doves." Kureo Mado began, silencing Ruby as she paid close attention to them. "These suitcases are our Quinque, weapons that are used to fight Ghouls, and yes they are transformable!" The elder dove pressed a button on his suitcase, which opened to reveal a Teal blade. Kureo loved collecting Quinque, and this was just one of the many he has owned. Deactivating his Quinque, the Investigator continued. "We make them from collecting the Kagune of fallen ghouls. That's their weapons, mind you." He said, his smile never wavering.

"So you harvest them? Neat." Ruby said. Her eagerness calmed down, managing to get a straight face back. Composing herself, the huntress asked a question that was at the back of her head since she saw them. "What are you doing travelling to Beacon?"

"We're here for the Investigator Assistance program." Amon began, his words strict and straight to the point. "It's a program that happens every two years. Hunters who have been through Ghoul attacks can seek help from this, and we can aid them with basic knowledge of how ghouls work and their strengths and weaknesses." Ruby was intrigued. Hunters often were so focused on grimm that if ghouls attacked them, they wouldn't know what to do! This would help them understand how to combat them. "It's going to be the 25th anniversary of the program's launch, and Beacon Academy seems like a good place to hold it. We're also awarding the most dedicated students in our program to become junior detectives."

"That's really cool!" The young huntress liked the concept of the idea. Hunters and Doves who had enough of their respective enemies, could fight off the baddies of other foes. Ruby however, wasn't willing to go through it. "I think I'll stay a Huntress though. I'd prefer the idea of killing soulless beasts than humans, even if they aren't." She still believed in her idea that Ghouls could live together with Humans, though it's weight was reduced by a little since her... incident.

"That's okay. Not everyone can be used to killing ghouls. I myself tried out for being a hunter once and didn't feel much thrill in it." Kureo explained, smirking vividly at his idea. Ruby glared with mixed feelings at the elder Investigator, still thinking he was creepy. "Their weapons are nice though, and I still have my first hunter weapon with me back in the office."

"Ooooooh." Despite how creepy this dove could be, Ruby can't help but just feel excited about weapons being mentioned. They were like meeting new people, only better!

"I guess I'll see you give a speech or something later?" Ruby asked, reaching the last of her questions. "Yes, young lady." Amon said, still at a stern but gentle tone.

"It's Ruby, Ruby Rose." The huntress said. She didn't really like to be called a young lady, at heart she was still a child. A child great at kicking Grimm butt that is!

With the conversation the huntress had with the doves, she hadn't realize the aircraft had landed until she felt herself sway still. "Oh, looks like we're here. Goodbye!" Ruby said, quickly prancing off onto the ground and rushing towards the Academy. She did still need to surprise her teammates!

"Such a sweet girl, isn't she?" Amon commented.

"Yes she is, but the girl part may not be accurate." Kureo said, moving his fingers.

"You can't mean that she is a ghoul now, can you?" Amon questioned. Such a sweet girl, a ghoul?

"Don't underestimate the deception a ghoul can give you. An old lady almost killed you, didn't she?" The elder said, his smirk still on his face. Amon simply sighed, that was a true fact he could not argue with.

"Well, let's get ready for the program." Amon said, walking down the aircraft along with his mentor.

* * *

 _End_

 _Pineapplessssssssssss~ Cookiessssss~_

 _Also hello to any reddit RWBY peeps looking at me. :D_


	4. Chapter 3: Nightmarish Revelations

**Chapter 3**

 **== Nightmarish Revelations==**

(Author Notes here... Bleh)

 _My grammar and sentence structure tends to run on a lot, and I keep having trouble finding good vocabulary to convey my story._

 _Due to personal reasons and/or final year examinations coming up for me, I will have to unfortunately prolong the update dates from 3 days to up 5 days or to a week. If you really want updates for me, I'll try my best to post as much as I can._

 _Enjoy_

* * *

Weiss was annoyed.

Really _really_ annoyed.

The dolt next to her was trying to ask her out, relentlessly mumbling about activities they could do together. Weiss just wanted to leave the class and return to her dorm. Her teacher, an old overweight man with grey hair and a notably bushy moustache, was ranting on relentlessly on the feats he accomplished during his prime. The White haired student sat on the table, her head lying on it in a stare with the holographic clock _"11:58, just two more minutes... 11:59..."_ Weiss thought to herself. Professor Port was a teacher who had much knowledge to share, but really got carried away with his past-generation stories.

"So, Weiss, y'know, uh, I-I was thinking after this, maybe we could go grab a bite to eat?" Jaune proposed. He turned toward the teacher, checking to see if he was looking at him. Confirming that he wasn't, Jaune continued. "And, uh um, I-I've got two tickets to that new Spruce Willis movie, if you wanna make the trip to Vale. I hear it's awesome."

Unsurprisingly, Weiss didn't reply. She couldn't be bothered spending her precious times with the likes of the dolt that was Arc. With what happened to her teammate, Weiss couldn't and wouldn't spend anytime that would be wasted. Ruby was her friend, and of course she would be concerned for her.

Jaune waited for The Ice Queen's reply, but was disappointed that none came. The blonde continued nonetheless, determined to get some sort of response. "Maybe after that, we could study together? I mean, you're smart and I'm, uh... Y'know. You did beat me in that Duststone game, right? Like that play you did, wow, never saw it coming. Who knew Echo of Medivh could do that? You put six Molten Giants on the board at once!" That match resulted in Jaune's defeat. He didn't play around the 10 health, double molten echo combo.

A shrill beep sounded through the room, signifying that the clock struck 12 noon. Port's lesson had just ended, and Weiss was glad she could finally take her leave.

"And then I? Oh." Professor Port was so induced into his story only realised his class was over until the bell had gone. "Timed that one wrong, I guess. Well, the stunning conclusion to this story will have to wait.

Until next time!" He said, mildly disappointed that his tale would have to end early.

"Um, Weiss? Did you hear me?" Jaune asked the White haired girl, as she packed her belongings and her scroll and proceeded stand up to walk out of class.

"No, no no, yes, me, and yes." Weiss replied in the exact order of questions Jaune asked her, as she strolled away from the disappointed Blonde. Jaune groaned and face-planted onto the desk, unwilling to accept Weiss's rejection.

The rest of her team, Blake and Yang, made their way across Jaune to the exit as well. Yang patted Jaune's back, trying to synpathise with him. "One day" the blonde mutters, before she continued making her way back to her dorm.

"I thought that class would never end." Blake said, as bored as the rest of her teammates were as they strolled back to their dorm room. Professor Port often went into such rambles about tales of his prime days, whether is be wrestling a gigantic Grimm or fending off against hordes of Ghouls.

"Yeah. I fell asleep since he told his story." Yang replied, streching her arms.

"We should check up on Ruby soon. She's been in the hosptial for a long time now." Weiss suggested. The accident didn't just affect Ruby, it affected all of them. Their leader had to go through surgery and was lying in bed for three days already.

"We will, but if anything I think my sis needs some time to herself." The elder sister answered. Yang took good care of Ruby ever since she was born, so she knew what made Ruby tick and whatnot. "Let's just get back to our dorm. I need to take a quick nap."

"Ugh, you always need to take a nap!" Weiss yelled. "Hey, it's not my fault school's getting boring. Whatever, Ice Queen." Yang replied uncaringly. The team eventually walked back to their dorm, with Blake reading her unfinished "The Black Goat's Egg." "Stop calling me Ice Queen!"

Opening the door, the trio was surprised to see someone they have been concerned for a long time.

"Hi everyone!" The leader of the team greeted.

* * *

"Ruby! You're okay!" Yang ran up and hugged her sister as tightly as she could. "Please... just got out of... hospital...!" Ruby struggled to escape Yang's grasp. She had always done this to her, but after being discharged from a hospital, she'd rather Yang not do it right now. "Oh! Right. Sorry, just very concerned for you." Yang apologised to her sis, realising that she had indeed was admitted to a hospital...

"What happened to you, Ruby? How did you get hurt? What are you doing here!?" Weiss questioned. She heard from the doctors and seen reports that Ruby and Razor were crushed by Steel beams. Weiss was glad Ruby was alive, though she did feel a little bad about the latter. Weiss barely knew Razor though, and right now she was much more concerned for her leader's predicament. "Um... um... I don't remember much. All I know is that there was a big crash, then I blacked out." Ruby lied. She could not let anyone know Razor was a ghoul, for the sake of Sun and his friends. She believed that they were close, with how often Razor called them with nicknames. "I was discharged by the hospital today so I made my way back to Beacon."

"How long was I gone for?" Ruby asked. She did not know the full details of her condition, only remembering trying to eat some food in the hospital and resting most of the time.

"Three days." Blake replied. Blake, like Weiss, barely knew Razor at all. She had been through deaths before, and was only concerned with Ruby right now. "Three days!? Oh man how many classes did I miss!?" Ruby's mind scrambled. "That's like, 18 hours of homework to catch up on!"

"Woah woah, calm down sis. You've been through alot, you deserve more rest." Yang calmed Ruby down. From what the blonde knew she just got through the death of someone that she tried to ship together.

Yang felt partially responsible for this accident. If she didn't do that then maybe Razor would have survived. "The teachers didn't give much homework anyway, just some fill in the blank questions. Holiday Blues affect everyone you know." Yang explained. She barely remembered needing to put much effort into them.

"Are you hungry though? You look like you ran a lot." Her sister pointed out, seeing Ruby breath unusually heavy.

"Yeah, I could sure use some food..." Ruby replied. The last time she ate food she did puke it out, so she wasn't really too enthusiastic on doing it again. Ruby's stomach growled loudly, letting everyone know exactly how starved she was.

"Here, have this candy." Weiss extended her hand out to Ruby, a small sweet on the palm. "It's not much but it should keep you going until we reach the cafeteria." Ruby looked at the sweet on Weiss's hand. It was a simple cherry flavoured candy wrapped in red. Nothing special "Oh, thanks Weiss." She replied.

The red huntress however found herself more interested in something else; The arm holding the sweet. That long, elegant, pride-rich and _juicy-_ wait what was she thinking. She couldn't eat Weiss's arm! Ruby quickly snagged the sweet from Weiss, trying her best to not think of that... that slender pale looking arm...

"Umm, Remnant to Ruby?" Weiss caught Ruby drooling, with a blank stare at her... hand? The Ice Queen assumed the kid was just daydreaming. She couldn't focus in class for more than two seconds! "You gonna look at my hand or are you gonna eat that candy?" Weiss said, getting annoyed by Ruby's antics.

"Urrrr... Wait what? Oh yeah the sweet yeah... Uh sorry for dazing off there." Ruby unwrapped the sweet and quickly threw it in her mouth, expecting a nice cherry-induced flavour in her mouth.

What she didn't expect was her immediately regretting having taken the sweet, spitting it at Weiss's face on contact with her tongue. With a loud raspberry, Ruby quickly grabbed a nearby tissue by the table and wiped her tongue. "Eww eww eww eww eww eww..."

Weiss, with the red candy sliding down her forehead, gave a very VERY unamused look. "What the hell was that for!?" She began, anger growing at the kid's unacceptable behaviour.

"...eww eww eww sorry that tasted like melted rubber on a hot Sunday eww eww eww eww sorry Weiss eww eww eww..." Ruby wasn't lying, it really did taste that bad to her. "Does this thing have Peanut butter in it...?" She asked. Ruby was at the verge of concluding that peanut butter was deadly poison or something of the like.

"Eh, Jaune's sweets must just be expired." Her sister defended. "I did nickname him Vomit Boy before."

"Oh no the curse has passed on! I'm now Vomit Girl!" Ruby concluded. That must be the reason she kept disliking food. She could drink water and coffee, but cookies and the like really made her sick.

"Oh don't be silly, you just don't like cherry flavour, that's all." Yang said, elbowing her younger sister. "Your description may be a bit too much though. Cherry flavour isn't vomit inducing." Blake commented.

"I guess..." Ruby muttered. She was quite hungry, and the fact that she couldn't have anything to eat before going to the cafeteria saddened her. "Well the doctor said that I have this psychological condition where my brain would think everything tastes bad." Ruby explained, looking at the ground. "I puked out a cookie before getting here..."

"You just need to rest, sis. Since you can't eat any solid food, try drinking water. I have a bottle of fresh water by the table." Yang told her, hoping that liquids would be able to sate her.

"It's nice to be back, guys. But with what happened I think I'll just sit out of afternoon classes today." Ruby said, disappointed with not being able to eat with her classmates. "I have some cookies on the desk.

Once your tongue stops acting up, help yourself out!" The blonde said, trying to cheer her up. "If that doesn't work go grab something in the fridge. Maybe it's the cookies causing you trouble."

"Cookies..." muttered Ruby

* * *

Ruby lied on her bunk bed, trying to get some shut-eye. Her friends soon took off for their lunches and classes, which Ruby wished she could join. "Why is this happening to me..." She muttered. First cookies now sweets, what next was she going to puke on an arm? A elegant pale yet juicy... Arm. Wait. Why was she even thinking of arms!?

Ruby sighed, and took out her scroll. Sliding her finger to the "remote control" application and pointing it to a black device on the top of the ceiling by the door. During the semester break Beacon installed these TV stands that could be activated with student's scrolls. Her team enjoyed the new feature, Yang enjoying it the most. She always did love watching TV shows.

With a click of a button, the stand showed a holo screen which randomly played the news channel. Ruby was about to change the channel when she felt her stomach rumble once again. With a hefty sigh, Ruby jumped down from her bed and walked towards the desk of her dorm. Yang's cookies were in a yellow cylinder shaped container, which Ruby opened and grabbed one.

Staring at the Cookie, Ruby examined it. Medium size, fresh brown crispy texture, and adorable chocolate beads in it. Delicious! All Ruby needed was some milk and she would be delightfully eatin-

Wait. Would she still vomit the cookie? Ruby put the palm of her hand on her forehead, checking her temperature. No fever. She then took a sip of water from the bottle next to the cookie container. Not icky.

Lastly she put her right index finger on the tip of her tongue, and found that it tasted like raw bacon. Weird...

Concluding that she should be fine, Ruby took hold of the cookie. "If I puke this out, I'm seeing the doctor." She told herself. Psychological eating disorders didn't last this long, did it?

With a big inhale of fresh oxygen, Ruby throw the entire cookie into her mouth in one shot.

Ruby teared up.

The huntress got up from her seat and walked in distress to the bathroom, spitting out the chocolate cookie. "Sorry, Yang." She muttered. The cookies Yang got just for her, she couldn't eat then at all. She already puked out two cookies and a sweet, what would happen if she ate a proper meal?

Sighing yet again in defeat, Ruby returned to the dorm and glanced toward the holographic news channel. She left her scroll at her bunk bed on the top, but Ruby didn't want to jump up again. The cookie dilemma really demoralised her. The news channel showed an old man with a moustache giving an interview to the news channel.

"Well, in the first place a ghoul has no need for an appetite this large within such a short period of time. Just a single dead body would ensure their survival for a month or two." The man talked on and on about

Ghouls. Ruby looked away from the channel, like before she really didn't want to be reminded about it again. Sitting on Weiss's bed, Ruby looking down at the ground unsure what to do.

"But Ogura-san, wouldn't the normal food that we eat suffice for ghouls as well?" A female voice from the television asked. "Absolutely not. Ghouls are only able to derive their nutrients from human organs."

The statements caught Ruby's attention as she pondered about her taste abnormalities. "The tongue of a ghoul functions in different way then humans or faunus." Ruby looked at the television to see the old man stick out his tongue, pointing to it with his finger. She felt a tingle go up her spine, "If they consume human food, they will be felt with an incredibly awful after taste." Ruby stick out her tongue, copying the action.

"Their tongues function in a different way than ours..." Ruby continued looking at the interview on the screen, the dread slowly overpowering her. "They'd just be left with an incredibly awful aftertaste."

"Oh my... god..." Ruby mumbled to herself in complete disarray. "You... don't mean that... that... No! It can't be!" The young huntress dashed over to the dorm's fridge, opening a plastic bag within it. Ruby grabbed an Apple from the bag, and stared at it with immense fear. She slowly brought the apple cautiously to her mouth, her heart pumping at an alarming rate. She was going to eat this apple and... and she was going to enjoy it's fruity taste...!

After much hesitation, Ruby took two big chomps out of the apple. Immediately, she felt an incredibly awful after taste. "No way..." She said within her mind, unable to believe this was happening. Ruby dashed towards the bathroom and spit out the pieces of the formerly delicious apple. "This can't be happening...!" Ruby ran back to the fridge and grabbing a sandwich and some milk. The frantic huntress chewed and drank both of them at the same time, but still she felt the incredible urge to puke them out.

The young huntress was in a state of disbelief. She tried to eat everything in the fridge, and nothing tasted remotely edible. The floor by the fridge was filled with leftover food, spilt milk and packets of fish all over the place. Nothing tasted good to Ruby. Nothing at all. Ruby laid on the floor in a defeated manner, sobbing at the condition she was in. Slamming the floor with her hand, a cylinder container fell to the ground. Ruby panned over to see it was her sister's cookie container. _"Once your tongue stops acting up, help yourself out!"_ Yang's voice resounded in her head.

"Yang..." Ruby muttered. She got up from the floor and put the container back on the table, not caring about the mess that was around her. The huntress took a cookie out and stared at it. "Cookie... please."

Ruby muttered to herself. "Please don't betray me..." Breaking a small piece of the cookie out, Ruby hesitantly threw the piece into her mouth.

Ruby broke into tears.

"Why is this happening to me..." The huntress muttered. "Why..."

"Would all first-year students of Beacon Academy please report to the Amphitheater. Thank you." An announcement was made throughout Beacon, but the distressed Huntress cared not for that. She had to stay in her dorm to rest anyway.

Getting off the table, Ruby glanced over to the mess she caused and sighed. She was going to need to clean this up.

* * *

The trio of RWBY, or rather WBY, sat down at the cafeteria eating their much-needed lunch. Weiss had a green apple on a plate and Yang had green salads with cherries. Blake wasn't eating, instead reading a book.

"Hey Blake, why aren't you eating fish?" Yang said, looking at her friend with curiosity. "I already had a big breakfast, and just cause I'm a cat faunus doesn't mean I always eat fish." Blake replied, not even glancing at Yang's direction. "Is that book really that good? You've been reading it for a long time now. Whose the author?" The blonde asked. She wasn't really interested in the books the faunus read, but she did notice Blake always swapped the books she read every two days or so.

"Yeah, it's a great book. The author's Sen Takatsuki, and she's having a book signing event at Vale soon. I'm excited to meet her, actually." Blake said, passion in her eyes. She was normally a quiet girl who tended to keep to herself, but the books Sen wrote were really good to Blake's amazement. "Her specialty is writing tragic stories, like this one. The Black Goat's egg."

"Um, that's nice I guess... I didn't need a whole backstory though." Yang replied, unwilling to hear the rest of Blake's description of the author. Blake simply gave Yang an unamused stare and returned to reading her novel.

"Would all first-year students of Beacon Academy please report to the Amphitheater. Thank you." Glynda's voice was heard throughout the cafeteria. "That's us! Let's go guys." Yang said, eager to get up from her seat. The team made their way to the Amphitheater. It was a huge glass-dome with raised bleachers arranged in a circle around a circular stage. The students gathered to the middle of theater, and saw professor Glynda on the stage with Headmaster Ozpin standing at the far back, observing.

"As part of the Vytal Festival, we are having the 25th Investigator-Assistance program. Students, please welcome Investigators Amon and Kureo!" Glynda announced, gesturing to the duo a suit and a trench coat.

"Greetings, students of Beacon! I am Kotarou Amon, First class investigator of the Commission of Counter Ghoul!" The dark green haired man announced. "I am here for the 25th Investigator-assistance program." He continued, gathering all students attention.

"Many of you attend this school to train to be Hunters and Huntresses, to become vanguards and peacekeepers of the world. You train to combat the Grimm and maintain order in times of conflict, and I respect such an effort. But have you ever asked yourself this: What about the ghouls?" Kotarou Amon gestures over to his right, revealing his partner, Kureo Mado. The scrawny man walked up to the mic and presented his speech."

"Hello students. I am Kureo Mado. Let's talk about Ghouls." The mentor of Amon announced. "You've all been living here killing Grimm, how about a change? Wanna go about killing Ghouls?"

Kureo ranted on about how ghouls were inhumane and had no soul. They existed only to feast on humanity, and that they don't deserve to live in this world. "Turn your attention away from the faunus, and join me in hunting ghouls. They don't deserve to be discriminated either, since they don't hunt down humans."

Eventually Kureo stepped down after giving his knowledgeable experience on ghouls, giving it back to Amon. "If you're not interested, get out of this room. I have better things to do." The elder ended.

"How many of your loved ones have been killed? How many of your loved ones have been eaten for food? How long are you going to let them do this!?" Amon's words inspired the warrior within Beacon Academy's students. They were not going to let their loved ones be consumed for nutrients! "If you are going to sit here and let them eat all of who you love, why are you attending Beacon? We must take the fight to them!"

"Sign-up for our program from your scrolls. It begins in one week, and I hope the majority of you be there. Thank you." Amon ended his speech, and with that students began to file out of the theater.

The trio of Team RWBY walked out of the Amphitheater, with Yang amazed by Weiss's determination. "Whoa, Weiss you wanna be an investigator?" Yang questioned. She joined this school to be a huntress, didn't she? "No. I'm not going to be a dove, I just want to fight the people who dare to harm my family's name. The White Fang isn't the only one against the Schnees, mind you."

"Well then, aren't you filled with determination, young lady" an old voice said to the Heiress. "Weiss Schnee, heiress of the Schnee dust company. I've heard alot about you, miss." Kureo continued. "My times of investigating has made me go through your companies files a lot, and I've killed quite a few ghouls who harassed your name in the past."

"Um, thank you mister. It means a lot to me, my family and all." Weiss replied, unsure how to exactly get past the creepiness that was Mado and thank him sincerely at the same time. "Don't mention it. The Schnee dust company is one of the reasons I could make my Quinque. It's simply gratitude." The dove then walked away from the trio, who looked at him with mixed reactions.

"Wow that guy was creepy. He even said he killed twenty ghouls at once before and harvested every single one of their kagunes." Blake commented, quoting his speech. "He is rather creepy, I agree. But he has done a lot for my family. I remember seeing him as he was thanked by my father personally before." Weiss added, recalling her childhood. "Meh, I got nothing. Wonder if Quinques can be made into gauntlets like mine." Yang stated, looking at her bracelets. "Let's get back to our dorm again before more classes start." Blake muttered, bringing out her book. "Seriously what is with you and that book?" Yang asked. "It's just... a good read."

* * *

"Ruby! We're back!" Yang said with energy. She was greeted with the sight of a floor covered in sheets. "What happened here!?" Weiss was annoyed looking at the mess. "Please tell me my books are safe..." muttered Blake. The team just cleaned up the dorm not long ago, and seeing the mess made their efforts wasted. "Ruby, are you there?" Yang continued, getting no response. Where did her sister go?

"Hey, there a note on the desk." Blake said, pointing her finger at it. "It's probably from Ruby. She was acting a little strange earlier."

Yang picked up the note and read it out loud. "Gone to Vale to see a doctor and have dinner. I might come back late though. Don't wait for me. Ruby. P.S. Sorry for the mess, I accidentally dropped the fridge." Yang put down the note, scratching the back of her head afterwards. "Well, that's weird. Ruby did have something on with her tongue" The blonde said.

"Hmmph. That cloak-wearing dolt. Now I've got to clean up the place for her." Weiss said, unamused by the condition the dorm was. "At least she tried, though." Yang defended. "Whatever though, have fun cleaning I'm gonna go take a nap." She said, hopping onto her bed.

"Yang Xiao Long you are going to help me clean this mess u-" Weiss's angry cries were interrupted by Yang's forced snores, which made her stomp her foot on the ground. "Ugh. Blake can you help me with cleaning u-" She stopped herself after turning around only to see her alone with a loud snoring blonde.

"Ugh. Why is this happening to me."

* * *

Ruby aimlessly walked down the streets of Vale, wearing her combat skirt with her hood up while forgoing the Sniper-Scythe she normally brought along all the time. The events that had happened really took a toll on the young woman, and Ruby needed some time alone. Looking down at the ground, she sighed in distress. Was she a ghoul? How did this happen? Why couldn't she eat human food? What was she going to do? These questions rang on and on in her head, but most of them were going to be left unanswered. No one could know of her dilemma. How would her team react? Would Yang still consider Ruby her sister?

Ruby felt her stomach rumble. She was getting hungry, and she didn't know what to about it at all. She couldn't eat any normal food nor could she even think about eating a human... A nice, lean, raw yet juicy human... like the ones strolling past by her. _"NO! Ruby Rose, you do not eat humans, you are human and you don't eat humans! They would taste disgusting... yeah it would taste disgusting!"_ She told herself, mentally hoping that by thinking humans tasted horrible, she would soon go back to eating her freshly baked delicious cookies.

The huntress looked around her. _"So many people... People... People..."_ The word kept repeating itself within her head. _"People... people... people... flesh..."_ Ruby began to sweat. The people, were looking like a fine meal to sate her, and that would be in a completely different level of wrong.

Ruby looked at two girls chatting, _"Girls... people... flesh..."_ Her hunger increased at the words she could not withhold. _"Child... Boy... Man... Woman... Flesh..."_ She described to herself what the people looked like. _"Woman... family... people... so many... people... so much... **FOOD**...!"_ Ruby snapped out of her trance, and noticed the citizens around her keeping their distance from her. "What is that girl doing...?" A couple passed by her, looking at the starving girl. "Get back you idiot!" The male of the duo yelled, ensuring his girlfriend wouldn't get close.

Ruby could not take this. She was being looked upon, and was the literal center of attention. With reckless haste, Ruby used her semblance and dashed out of the streets, creating a trail of rose petals in her wake.

* * *

Ruby ran. She did not know where she was running yet the huntress just ran, the urges of eating human flesh quickly consumed her. Her stomach growled once again, reminding her that she still needed food. How would she eat? Nothing tasted edible to her so far!

Eventually Ruby found herself in a residential area. It was fortunately barren, with no... humans... for her to think about. The huntress didn't bother checking her location. "The further I am from people, the better it would be. I don't... I can't think of eating humans anymore!" Ruby would mercilessly kill an entire horde of grimm, but even the suggestion of ending a sentient being's life made her back away. Now here she was thinking of eating humans, obviously killing them.

"What do we have here?" A gruff voice sounded from the barren sidewalk. Ruby glanced over to the location of the voice, and saw a Raven-Haired girl being held on by a creepy old freak with two horns sticking out of his head. A perverted Bull faunus taking advantage of a young girl alone. "You're showing a lot of leg, girl. Why don't you come with me?" Ruby looked closer and realised who the girl being harassed was. It was Touka, the waitress Ruby saw earlier! "Let's have a good time now, hehe." The man's words made the raven-haired girl struggle harder to break from his grasp. Temporarily forgetting that her hunger existed in a moment of heroism, Ruby shouted to the old man. "Hey! Leave her alone!" The huntress shouted, grabbing the man's attention.

"Huh, what are you looking at missy! I'll teach you to talk like that to me!" The old man shouted, annoyed at the girl in red. Ruby said nothing, intending to intimidate the creep. Taking the bait, the old man let go of Touka and dashed toward's Ruby and grabbed her hood, pulling it off. "Don't ignore me missy. Don't you ignore..." The old faunus stopped himself when looked at the huntress's eyes, or rather one eye. "Don't touch my cloak, creep!" Ruby yelled, kicking the him in the stomach with an abnormally large force. The man grunted as he was sent flying back by the kick, falling onto the ground, seemingly unconscious.

"Touka! You okay?" Ruby said, running to the raven-haired girl. "I'm fine, I could handle him myself though. Thanks anyway." Touka got up with Ruby's help and the two of them looked at the unconscious faunus, and turned away after a few moments to confirm he was knocked out. "Your name was Ruby right?" Touka asked, trying to recall the girl. Ruby nodded with a small "Yup!", emphasizing the "p". "It's nice to see you again. What's with your eyes though?" The raven-haired girl questioned, looking at the huntress's eyes. "That's weird."

"What's wrong with my eyes?" Ruby asked, completely forgetting her hunger from before. For some reason, despite Touka being a human in teh girl's eyes, Ruby couldn't even think about looking at Touka as a source of nutrition. Unknowingly to the both of the however, the bull faunus wasn't got up from his knocked up state and stared at the two figures, blood burning hotter by the second. "You... Monster with the red eye..." He muttered, focusing his rage upon the huntress. "PISS OFF, DISGUSTING MONSTER!" The bull charged towards the two, horns pointed at them with killing intent.

Touka noticed the mad bull running full-force at Ruby, and in the moment of instinct, pushed Ruby out of the way. The result was the bull ramming Touka in the chest and slamming her onto the wall. "Touka!" Ruby cried. The bull faunus pinned Touka with his horns caging Touka's body between them. He soon after pulled out and used his hand to hold the girl by neck-point. Looking at the event happening before her, felt her hunger returning upon focusing on the old man.

"FLESH. FAUNUS. EAT. KILL." The words of destruction repeated in her head over and over again, and Ruby lost control of her body for a few seconds. The huntress saw only red upon looking at faunus harming her beloved friend. "GET AWAY FROM TOUKA!" She shouted, her hands positioned like claws as she charged towards the bull faunus.

The old man hadn't have time to scream as his head was sliced between the eyes into half by Ruby. Blood splattered onto Ruby's face as half of the head fell onto the floor, life quickly losing by the millisecond. Ruby wasn't done there, however. She tore into the headless faunus' chest and pulled out a big piece of flesh. "EAT. EAT. EAT. EAT EAT EAT." The words commanded her to do it. She already killed a man in her drunken frenzy, thus eating him wouldn't matter either now, would it?

Touka had fallen back again onto the floor, grunting upon impact. Looking at the berserk and starving huntress before her, Touka muttered a sentence. "Can I have an arm?" She said, sincere at Ruby's assistance.

The huntress looked at Touka, pieces of flesh on her hand positioned ready to consume. Looking at the raven-haired girl however, returned Ruby to her sentences. The girl was not food, and thus Ruby's feral state had ended. Regaining her senses, Ruby looked at the corpse she was sitting on. "Wha- What's going on...? What am I doing on-" Ruby stopped herself when she panned up to see the body she was on had lacked a full head. "Wha... What happened...? What's going on...?" She repeated to herself, unbelieving at the scene before her. "What? You just killed an old geezer, big deal. Anyway, can I have an arm? I'm a little hungry." Touka nonchalantly said. "Did... Did I kill... this... man?" Ruby was in a state of disbelief. She refused to connect the dots, and refused to believe it. She didn't just kill a man, She did not just kill a man!

"Yeah, you did Ruby. So may I have an arm?" The raven-haired girl looked at Ruby, slowly getting impatient.

"Touka... Are you... a ghoul...?" Ruby asked. Why did the waitress want an arm? She obviously wasn't going to scratch her back with a dead man's limb, was she? "Yes I am, Ruby. What's up? Aren't you gonna eat?" Touka replied, pointing out the piece of meat Ruby still had in her hand. Looking at it for herself, the huntress immediately threw the arm aside and started tearing up. "I'm... I'm a ghoul too aren't I..." She muttered.

This was happening. Ruby unwillingly completed the puzzle to her situation. The icky cookies, the disgusting food in the fridge, the humans smelling delicious, it all made sense. Ever since the surgery, ever since Razor's attack on her, and ever since she got an organ transplant. Reality started to crumble for Ruby, as she came to an unbelievable conclusion.

Razor's organs were transplanted to Ruby. It was the only way. The result was something even she couldn't believe. Something that would change her view on life forever.

Ruby was a ghoul.

"What's wrong? Your eye isn't anything to worry about, if that's the thing." Touka tried to cheer her up. Ruby did save her from the faunus, so returning the favor was the least she could do to the distressed huntress. The kindness the ghoul gave the huntress made her break into a loud crying fit and she hugged Touka with gratitude for her kindness, despite being a ghoul. Touka could only pat Ruby in the back as she sobbed loudly in the dimly lit sidewalk. "I'll get you to Anteiku, don't worry." She said, emphasizing with the crying huntress.

* * *

Touka brought the huntress to the coffee shop, where she settled Ruby onto a bed upstairs. Her tears never faded though, as she still sobbed relentlessly while lying on the soft yet comfortable bed.

"What do we have here?" an old voice questioned. Ruby's heart skipped a beat hearing it however, recalling the elder faunus she killed. Attempting to forget about what she had done, Ruby crawled into fetal position and turned to the other side of the bed away from the voice. "There there, it must have be hard for you. You used to be a human before, weren't you?" The elder voice said, kindness in his tone. The sentence caught Ruby's attention, and she looked up to see an elderly man with a waiter's uniform. He had greying hair and a genuine smile featured with his wrinkles. "Y-Yes... I was..." Ruby muttered, trying muster back the courage to reply. "I'm the manager of Anteiku. Would you mind giving me the details of what happened to you?" He asked.

"I-I was in an accident with m-my friend..." Ruby began to give her background of what happened to the kind elder, sitting up from the bed. "He, I-I mean we!" She corrected instantly, hoping the manager didn't notice her slip up. We attacked were in a construction site a-and a ghoul tried to kill me. He was killed by falling beams and then I was sent to the hospital..." The huntress took a big gulp, prepared to continue the rest of her story. "I-I had to go through surgery... Which made me into..." Ruby stopped. The revelation that she was a forced man-eater went against what she thought would be a possible future. The future of Humanity and ghouls coexisting to fight off the grimm. "Ahh, so you were the girl on the newspaper." The man said. Ruby looked back at him in surprise. "I was on a newspaper?"

"Yes you were. Tell me now, was your friend known as mister Razor Rivers?" The manager inquired, shocking the huntress. "H-how'd you know his name...?" Ruby asked. "His name was on the newspaper too, Ruby Rose." Ruby was about to ask him again how did he knew her name, but remembered he just said he recognised her from a newspaper article. "W-well after I was discharged from the hospital, I tried eating some cookies in this store and... a-and they tasted bad. Everything went downhill from me there..." Ruby ended, not wanting to continue her experience.

"Well Ruby, am I not wrong to say that Mister Rivers tried to kill you?" The manager asked, giving Ruby a shock. "W-What...!? No no no Razor... didn't..." The huntress trailed off her sentence when she looked at the elder and saw him chuckling. "There's no need to keep anything from me. Here at Anteiku we give aid to fellow ghouls in need, helping them with whatever problems they face. We are a peaceful organisation that wants to see ghouls and humans live together in harmony." The manager looked at Ruby to see her recover from her sobbing state, noticing a smile under the fallen tears. "T-that's just what I wanted it to be... To see ghouls and humans together to fight against the grimm."

Heaving a big sigh, Ruby started to give out the truth. "Razor attacked me in a dark alleyway, and he was killed by falling beams. It was a miracle I survived, but the aftermath... Yeah." The huntress's stomach began to rumble, reminding her that she still had not eaten since morning. "U-um, mister manager?"

"Call me Yoshimura." The manager said, smiling at the huntress. As if knowing what Ruby was about to say, Yoshimura called for Touka to give him a package. The girl handed it over to the manager, which then showed it to Ruby. "Open it up." He said, tugging at Ruby's curiosity.

Ruby opened the package to see a box full of red-hued, delicious looking cookies with red-looking raisins. "Cookies!" Ruby exclaimed, excitement enthralling her. Red was her favorite color, and the cookies before her really suited her style! The cookies were going to be... delicious...? "U-um, I don't think I can eat this... right...?" She asked Yoshimura, with a raised eyebrow. "Unless it's human meat or..." Ruby realised what she was looking at. The cookies were made of flesh!

"E-ek!" Ruby cried, tossing the box back to the manager. "I-I... I can't eat human meat! I drink milk!" The Beacon Academy student forced herself not to eat such... delicious... tenderly baked... Human Cookies... "N-no I am not going to eat human meat! I AM NOT GOING TO EAT HUMAN ME-" Ruby's cries were interrupted by an angered Touka slapping her in the face. "Don't piss me off." The raven-haired girl muttered. "Tell me, Ruby. What was it like eating cake before?" Touka questioned, tension building up in the moment. "Ow... U-um... It tastes really good... The cream in your mouth and the strawberries on top. Mmm!" The student replied innocently, receiving a glare from the waitress. "U-um... did I say something...?

"Then tell me, Ruby. How does it feel to live without being hunted by anyone? How does it feel not living in fear, forever scared of The ghoul investigation department or other ghouls gone insane?" Ruby had nothing to reply to Touka's statement, slowly lowering her head in shame. "I've never tasted such delicacies you humans make. Donuts, cupcakes... even fruits and vegetables! I can never eat any of that! So tell me, human." Ruby slowly felt herself stiff, unable to respond. " **TELL ME!** " The ghoul once again shouted, pissed off at the former human huntress.

"That's enough, Touka." Yoshimura stated, with a tone of authority in his sentence. Ruby looked back up to see the manager calming down the waitress. "I can't say I don't agree with Touka. This world isn't a fairy tale." The phrase rang a bell in Ruby's head. It was the same phrase Blake said to her when they first met. "You need to face reality. The incident made you into this, and do you really want to live your life in starvation?"

"A ghoul starving, is worse than hell itself." Touka added in, making Ruby face such reality once more. "T-that's why your here... to make the world better, isn't it?" Ruby muttered, regaining her part of her lost courage. Yoshimura nodded with a kind smile, giving Ruby some hope herself. "I'm sorry for saying that, but it's true. For my entire life it's been a terrible world." Touka stated, looking at Ruby with sincerity. "Now please, eat the cookie. I-I don't want to see you starve any longer."

Ruby looked back at the cookie, and before eating it, said words that made Touka feel better. "Thank you, Touka." Removing all hesitation from before, with the encouraging words of the staff of Anteiku...

Ruby bit into the cookie.

* * *

 _End_

 _Thanks to kuletxcore for posting this on RWBY reddit for me._


	5. Chapter 4: Never trust anyone?

**Chapter 4**

 **== Never trust anyone...? ==**

 **I... can't feel... skelecog... bleh.**

 **I have no idea where do I put Blake in. I've got a place for Yang and Weiss but not the fanus... I don't know why.**

 **Also I've decided I'm still gonna post every 3 days, just um... I'm gonna do it until I run out of content to post. My final examinations are final examinations you know.**

* * *

Beacon Academy was an amazing sight to behold, especially during the night. The lights lit up dimmly suited the atmostphere of the marvelous school of Hunters and Huntresses. Ruby Rose walked casually through the pathways, her dorm being the place she was heading to. Her time at Anteiku was fun, and there she made new friends and people she could trust. Yoshimura was a kind-hearted ghoul who created the coffee shop in pursuit of harmony between ghouls and humans. Touka was two years older than Ruby, the same age as her friends at Beacon and was a high school student. She didn't want to become a huntress, rather staying in Anteiku than going out and risk exposing her ghoul nature.

The other staff were quite friendly too. One of them was Enji Koma. He had brown hair styled in a pompadour and a bulbous nose, and a very talktative and playful personality. He was also polite to Ruby and was proud to be an Anteiku waiter and takes much pride in his job. The other was Kaya Irimi, a waitress with long black hair who normally kept to herself, but had a kind and caring personality. Ruby described Anteiku as a big happy family, which all of them were happy to accept the term.

Ruby had taken a good inspection from the manager. Only one of her eyes were ghoulish. The manager deduced that Ruby was an artifical ghoul created by planting a ghoul's organs into a human's body, making a half-ghoul. Ruby tested her kakugan on a mirror several times, and found that it was quite cool to have one eye be ghoulish. She could call herself The Half-Ghoul Huntress once she graduated, silently fangirling at the thought people calling her by that title.

"Hey look, it's the Half-Ghoul Huntress! She's come to save us! Yay! Go Ruby! Defeat those Grimm!" Ruby said to herself as she made several gestures with her hands, mimicking what was going on in her imagination. Once ghouls and humans hopefully coexisted, she could be just like Glynda on the day she met her! "Can I have your autograph Ruby? Of course you can! _Sweeeee!_ "

But most of all, the words Yoshimura used to describe her situation was what made her most happy. _"You are both human and ghoul at the same time, thus you have a place in both worlds."_ Her dream of ghouls and humans coexisting was become reality, with her being the first support.

Ruby eventually reached her dorm, and looked at her scroll. "Nine forty, not that late into the night. My team must still be awake." Ruby thought to herself. They normally slept at ten, usually discussing about stuff such as Blake liking fish or sometimes even scrolling through their scrolls until it reached ten.

The red cloak wearer opened the door to her dorm. What she saw was the room light switched off and Weiss and Blake sleeping soundly at their beds, going against what she normally thought. Ruby tiptoed to her bunk and couldn't help but notice the mop Weiss had next to her bed. They cleaned up the mess she made, that was nice. As she was about to jump up to her bed above Weiss's, the huntress heard a sound from outside her dorm. Curious, Ruby instead tiptoed out of her dorm and peeked outside, seeing no one in the hallways. Concluding that nothing was going on, Ruby closed the door and turned around.

Walking right into Yang.

"Helloooooooo" Yang cheerfully, scaring Ruby. "Ahh! Yang don't do that!" The leader of the team said, shocked at the sudden appearance of her sister. "Heh, just wanted to care ya. Where did you go off to?" Yang asked. "O-Oh. I went to see a doctor, but after that I saved a girl from a freaky old man. I managed to m-make him run away, and the girl thanked me and introduced a coffee shop to me. Everyone there was great!" Ruby beamed. She couldn't tell anyone about the fine details that happened there, but the least she could say was how great the place was. "It's called Anteiku, and I wanna bring all of you there soon!"

"Ruby, I'm trying to sleep here!" An annoyed voice erupted from the sleep-deprived heiress. "S-Sorry Weiss." Ruby muttered apologeticly. "Well, what an adventure you got yourself into. Is your tongue fixed?" Yang asked Ruby, refering to the cleaned up mess. "You did make a lot of mess before you left. You sure your okay?" Yang pointed to the direction of the fridge, with some towels over the floor.

"Yeah! After I saved the girl, the coffee shop introduced me to red-colored cookies, and they help fixed my tongue!" Ruby sticked out her tongue, pointed at it for Yang to see. The blonde simply chuckled in return. "It's good to see your better, I guess it's time to sleep now isn't it?"

"Obviously!? Go to sleep!" The annoyed heiress yelled again, earning more chuckles from the sisters. During the whole time, Blake kept her ears peered. "Something's off", she mused.

* * *

The next day, Team RWBY attended their classes per usual. Ruby sketched pictures of a childish drawing of Professor Port, with Weiss scoffing it off as she tried to take down notes. Blake paid attention to class, reading her book when there was nothing to do, while Yang... was just being Yang.

Eventually they made it through classes, Ruby giving up on drawing, Weiss failing to understand why her professor constantly blabbered on about his stories, Blake continuing to read her book through Port's ramblings and Yang just sleeping. Team RWBY made their way after class to the cafeterria to have lunch, with Team JNPR across them. The two teams ate their respective meals. Jaune and Yang had Bacon and Eggs, Weiss with a red apple, Pyyrha and Ren eating salads and Nora happily looking at her pancakes. Blake had a can of tuna on her, which got the attention of Yang. "Finally going back to your instincts, eh?" She teased, getting an eyeroll in response.

Ruby didn't want to be the only one not eating, so she took out a box of red-hued cookies. "Woah, I knew you liked red but not that much!" Jaune said, noticing the redness of the snack. Oftentimes cookies did have different colour on it, being red raisins or some cream decorations to go, but not the entire cookie being red! "Yeah, A coffee shop in the 20th ward sells them. I think they just ran out of stock though." Ruby replied. "Out of stock!? That's quite the limited edition cookies you have there. Can I have one?" Jaune asked, standing up in order to grab one before recieving approval. "N-No!

You can't!" Ruby immediately slapped Jaune's hand out of the way before he could grab one, causing Jaune to recoil in pain. "Hey, what was that for? I just wanted one..."

Ruby was about to explain why when she felt a sensation in her left eye. Immediately, Ruby covered the eye with her hand, yelling in pain. "Ow ow ow my eye. Be right back I gotta go to the bathroom... Ow!" The girl quickly dashed to the bathroom, leaving both teams in confusion. "Okay what just happened?" Jaune asked, breaking the silence. "I'll go check on her." Yang said, getting up from her seat and following her sister. "Well EYE guess you can say Ruby has quite a problem. Right?" Weiss tried her hand at joking, but was turned down with five simultainous facepalms. "That was bad!" The distant voice of Yang yelled. The heiress chuckled to herself and muttered a simple "Whatever..."

Ruby quickly dashed through the bathroom door, making it swing back and forth from open to close. She looked in the mirror, and put her hand down. Her left eye was a kakugan. The pupil was blood red and the sclera became black, along with red veins along the eye. The eye of a ghoul. "Turn back to normal please eye, turn back to normal turn back to normal...!" Ruby pleaded for her eye to return to her normal silvery look. She couldn't let anyone see it, she couldn't!

"What's going on Ruby?" The voice of Yang sounded from the door. She just entered while Ruby had her kakugan on! Immediately putting her hand back to her ghoullish eye, she turned to her sister.

"Ahh! Nothing. It hurts, that's all. Nothing a little clean water can fix, right?" Ruby said nervously to her sister, hoping she could understand. "I thought you hated water in your eyes?" Yang replied, unsure of what her sister was going on about. "Come on let me see what's wrong with it."

"N-N-No! Don't!" Ruby backed away from her sister, hitting her back on the wall. "I-I'm fine! I can handle this! I don't want you to see me!"

"What do you mean? Ruby this isn't funny, what's going on!?" Yang shouted with concern. Her sister was acting up, and she wanted to know exactly what is going on. "Ruby, please. I'm your sister. You can tell me anything! You can even say that you got chili sauce in your eye, and I won't make fun of you."

"Y-You will hate me forever!" Ruby shouted frantically. The huntress recalled what Yoshimura had told her. _"Don't let anyone know you are a ghoul. They report you to the CCG and you will be hunted down."_ She didn't want to take the risk, she would act and behave like a normal girl with a normal pair of eyes!

"No! I won't! Whatever you have done, I will not hold you against it. You can say you killed someone and I won't hold it against you. You're my sister Ruby, and you always will be. So please, what's going on with your eye?" Yang sympathised with Ruby. Her heart pained seeing Ruby react this way, and Yang pleaded to herself for her to stop. She would kill a million grimm if it meant saving her sister, and Yang meant it from the bottom of her soul.

"I-I-If I let you know... Will you... n-not let anyone else know?" Ruby stumbled. "I will not." Yang declared. With that, Ruby gave up the strength she had in her eye, letting it fall to rest.

"O-Oh my god R-Ruby!" Yang said, disbelief in her tone. Ruby gulped, was she going to reveal her to the CCG? Was Yang going to betray her? Was her life going to crumble from today onwards!?

"..."

"That's so cooooooooooool!" Yang lunged in and hugged her adorable sister

"...What...?"

"When did you get a ghoul eye? Where can I get one? How do I get one? Does it itch?" Yang instantly bombarded Ruby with questions about her eye, with Ruby just... unable to react. "H-How are you so calm...? Aren't you going to freak out...?"

"Freak out!? Of course I'm freaking out! Your eye is like, the coolest thing one could have! You know those shows where the badass character has an eyepatch and he takes it off and everyone be like-"

"Okay okay I get it! You like my eye because it reminds you of your TV shows and Anime stuff." Ruby heard Yang fangirl over her shows one too many times, and this was one of them. What she was expecting was a freaked out Yang instantly discriminating Ruby because of her eye, but instead she got a freaking out Yang just adoring the awesome ghoul eye she had. "But really though, Yang.

Aren't you gonna um... freak out for me being a... um... Yeah...?"

"Nah. Your cool. I've never seen a Ghoul firsthand anyway and you're the first I've seen! How'd it happen though? You trip and fall, break a leg then got new glasses?" Yang joked, earning a pout from Ruby. "No it's not like that! It's something more... more um... more tragic."

Ruby started to explain the whole situation, how Razor tried to kill her, what the surgery turned her into, describing Anteiku for what they really were.

"Soooooo... Razor was a ghoul, he tried to kill you but got crushed by falling steel. You then had ghoul organs transplanted into you in order to save you, then realised you can't eat normal cookies." Yang repeated, getting the whole picture. Ruby nodded and Yang continued. "You found Anteiku, where you met the Touka girl, and they gave you these red cookies for you to eat?"

"Y-Yeah. That's the whole picture, sis. How are you taking this in so well?" Ruby's story should have made her sister at least a bit concerned about the fact that she could only eat humans, but the sister of the ghoul just grinned happily. "You're my sister, Ruby. No matter what happens to you, as long as you mean well to the world. I'll be here for you. So what if you can only eat human meat, I'd kill a million people to sate your hunger. I'll feel bad about it of course but as long as you still are you, I'm here with you forever."

Yang's speech made Ruby tear up a little. She would give up everything just for her The half-ghoul huntress embraced her sister in an affectionate hug. The sister of the half-ghoul returned the hug,

patting Ruby on the back.

"Thank you, Yang. Thank you."

The two sister came out of the bathroom and went back to their team. Walking to the table, they saw all of their friends had finished their food. Ruby's box went untouched as Pyyrha kindly made Jaune stop trying to take the cookies, much to the half-ghoul's appreciation. "So what happened Ruby? What's with the eyepatch?" Weiss asked the leader of her team, pointing at the medical eyepatch over Ruby's left eye. "Oh. My eye kept on itching and I hate washing my eyes, so Yang got my an eyepatch for me to wear! Kinda neat, huh?" Ruby replied in her usual cheerful self. "It's rather cringe-worthy if you ask me." Weiss stated, making Ruby frown for a few moments. "What? Honest opinion."

"Anyway, Ruby. Why can't I have those cookies? I'm not allergic to red or anything, but I'd like to try at least once of something so limited edition." Jaune pointed to her box, and Pyyhra gave the blonde boy an unamused stare, making him retreat his finger. "I would give you one, but it's only meant for me. It's... um..." Ruby tried to think of a reasonable explanation to give him. Thinking back, Ruby thought of how food tasted horrible to her, how she couldn't eat her beloved cookies and how Yang pointed out there was something wrong with her tongue... tongue... That's it!

"It's specially designed cookies meant for me to recover. I was admitted to a hospital not long ago, so sorry Jaune I'd rather you not eat those." Ruby looked at Jaune's face and see him no longer want to eat the red cookies. "Medical Cookies? No thanks... and no offense." Jaune replied, discouraged from the thought of eating medicine. "None taken."

"Sup, baddies." A duo of Yellow and Blue came up to the two teams, greeting them. Sun's choice of nickname earned a chuckle from Yang and a groan from Jaune. "Blondes." Nora muttered, getting looks from the three of them.

"Hi, Sun." Ruby greeted back the Monkey Fanus. "So um how you doing Ruby? I heard about the accident, it was really unfortunate..." Sun's words trailed off as he thought of his former friend. Razor Rivers was a good friend of his, and with him gone the monkey faunus felt terrible inside. He didn't let it impact him too much though. He had things to do and stuff to steal in honor of the sharp-witted friend he once had. Right now he was concerned with the one who saw him die, Ruby Rose. She saw him die firsthand, and Sun himself would break if such a thing would happen to him too.

"I-I'm okay. Let's not talk about me though, I've been through enough. It must be hard for you though, Sun. Razor must have been a good friend to you." Ruby sympathized with the Monkey Fanus, and silently hoped that he would turn out better than she was. "It's rough for me, but what can I say. Stuff happens. I've mourned his death with Neptune, and we've decided to continue on. We can't ponder about him forever, right? I've got stuff the freeload and boats to stowaway."

"It's nice to see your taking it well too, Sun." Ruby smiled. Razor must a really great friend to those who were not his food. Either that or the ghoul was just a master of deception. For her friend's sake, she hoped it was the former.

The two teams interacted with Sun and Neptune, discussing about stuff they would do in the future. Nora drank an entire bottle of pancake syrup all the while, muttering if the red-hued cookies would taste good with it. Ruby simply said she wouldn't recommend it, the cookies were made of special ingredients, and pancake syrup would have probably make it go bad.

* * *

Team RWBY towards their dorm after having their classes. They ended early today in preparation for the Investigator Assistance program which the heiress of the Schnees had signed up for. "You're

gonna become a dove!?" Ruby said, shocked at Weiss's plans. "Ugh, I said I'm not gonna be a dove you dolt! Why does everyone say that!?"

"Then why do you want to join the program?"

"Because I want to rid the world of the degenerates that are ghouls, but able to keep order and peace at the same time. Doves don't have combat schools."

"Um, you saying that means that you want doves to have combat schools, you know. That also means you want to become a dove." Yang added in, pointing out a fact.

"You know what, I don't even know why your questioning me. I'm gonna go to the program now. Goodbye." Weiss stormed off from her team, with Ruby having a scared expression on her face. Weiss wanted to be a Ghoul Investigator? What would happen if she knew of Ruby's secret? Yang noticed her sisters distress, and since they had nothing else to do, suggested something that would be sure to make Ruby cheer up. "Hey, how about we go to Ruby's new job place?"

"What? It's not my job yet... I think."

"Well, they did invite you to their place. How about it? Most classes are gonna be cancelled in preparation for the Vytal fesitval, so while we're waiting you can go earn some pocket money!"

"Now that you say it, it's not a bad idea. There is a problem though, I don't know the first thing of making Coffee."

"I can help you out. I used to have part-time jobs too, I can show you a thing or two."

"Really? Neat! Thanks sis!" Ruby thanked her sister and prepared to go to Anteiku, but before that she noticed Blake still reading her book. "Blake, want to come along?" Ruby asked.

"I guess so. What day is it today?" Blake replied, wondering about the time. Ruby check her scroll and replied the date back to the faunus with a bow. "26th of March, why you asking?"

"Oh! Sen Takatsuki's book signing event is happening today. Sure I can join you, but I'll be going off for her signature later."

"Awesome! Team RWBY lets go to Anteiku!"

* * *

"Hi everyone!" Ruby greeted the staff of the coffee shop. Touka and Yoshimura were busy cleaning up the place, and waved back to the half-ghoul. "Hello, Ruby. Who would your friends be?" The manager of the establishment asked, seeing two new face behind her. "These are my friends, Yang and Blake!" Ruby introduced. "Hellooooo. You must be the kind man who invited Ruby here. I'm Yang, her sister!" Yang greeted to Yoshimura, who smiled in reply. The manager turned to Blake, who nodded to him as her greeting.

"So you must be Touka. I've heard a lot of you from Ruby." Yang said to Touka in a friendly manner. "She told me all about you! Those red cookies sure were the bomb, weren't they?"

"U-Um, yeah. We don't sell them to anyone though, Ruby's just special." Touka replied.

"Wow that sure is nice of you." Yang leaned in closer to Touka's ear, as the whispered a warning to the raven-haired girl. "Please take care of Ruby for me, the red cookies are sure a smart idea for human flesh." The two words of Yang's sentence alarmed Touka. "H-How do you know..."

"Shush. I'm her sister, of course I know. Besides, she told me herself anyway. Please just make sure Ruby's safe for me. Thank you." Yang walked away from Touka back to the group, leaving the ghoul mildly annoyed that she knew of their secret. _"I-I can't kill her sister just cause she knows."_ Touka told herself. Ruby would never forgive her if she did. _"Besides, she is the elder. She should help Ruby along with this."_

"So Ruby, do you want to start work today? I can show you how to make delicious coffee." Yoshimura asked the half-ghoul. "U-Um, I don't know actually. Yang wanted me to start work today so-"

"So she will! Don't worry I'll show you how to make Coffee. I've done it before anyway!" Yang interrupted her nervous sister, forcing her to begin the work today. "Y-Yang!" Ruby cried at her sister for doing the decision making for her. "Excellent! I don't think you can work here yourself though." Yoshimura said, implying Yang's non-ghoul status. Touka however, quickly went up to the manager and whispered something in his ear. "Oh! Maybe we do have a spot after all. Want to join us?"

"Sure!" Yang said instantaneously, earning a surprised look from Blake. "You really want to work here?" Blake questioned. This was the first time she was here herself, and assumed it was Yang's first time too. "Ahh, No sweat. Besides, I can guide Ruby along!" The blonde replied, giving a grin and a thumbs up. Ruby could only mutter her sister's name once again. "Yang..."

 _"How are you taking this so well..."_

* * *

Ruby and Yang were given the basic tour around the shop. Upstairs was a food storage and a meeting room, and some living quarters for homeless ghouls to sleep. They were also shown the basics of how make coffee by Yoshimura. Ruby's first coffee was a disaster, unfortunately. Even Yang couldn't handle the bitterness of it. The elder sister's one was created much better however, with The manager complimenting that it was one of the best he had ever tasted. The skill difference between the sisters spurred fierce but friendly competition between the two, with them trying to win one another.

They held a short contest just for the two of them, with Blake and Yoshimura being the judges. They had to make five cups of coffee each and the winner was the one who make the highest quality cup. In short, it was easy to guess who had won.

The half-ghoul sighed, her sister won her in all five coffee cups. "Don't worry Ruby, with enough determination and sweat, you'll be better than me in no time!" Yang encouraged, earning a pillow to the face. "Hey, I'm just trying to help. Where did you even get that pillow from?"

Eventually Blake had to leave to get to Sen Takatsuki's signature event. Waving bye to the cat fanus, Ruby and Yang had a little chat with the staff.

"Are you guys comfortable with me knowing of you're whole secret?" Yang asked nervously to the manager of the establishment. She had a feeling that if anyone knew of the shop's secret, they would be silenced for good. "Don't worry, young lady. It's illegal to withhold information of ghouls in the first place, and since you're here to protect your sister." Yoshimura gestured to the half-ghoul next to her. "It seems fine to me, isn't that right Touka?" The manager questioned the raven-haired waitress.

"I'll be frank. I'll kill anyone who knows of our secret, but you're off the hook. I owe Ruby anyway." She explained, earning a grin from the sister of the half-ghoul. "That's awesome! I knew you'd be a great friend, isn't that right Ruby?" Yang put her shoulder over Touka, who looked unamused by her casualness. The half-ghoul nodded in response.

"Now, It's getting late and it would be best that the two of you returned back to your home. I would want to speak to Ruby for awhile though. Is that alright with you, Yang?" Yoshimura inquired. "No problem sir. I'll see you back in Beacon sis!" Yang waved to her sister goodbye before heading out the door.

"Beacon?" The manager repeated. "Is that the academy you study at?"

"Yes sir. I'm the leader of my tea there actually. Beacon's a fun place too!" Ruby replied happily.

"Hmm, I have an old friend teaching there. Would you mind if I tell you of your condition? I'm sure he would understand." Yoshimura asked the huntress. "Um, sure I guess. There are some doves there doing a program though..."

"Doves in your academy? I know I'm not going there." Touka mused, rejecting the thought of ever attending it. "Why not? Like I said it's a fun place!"

"I don't want to fight grimm and attract attention to myself, and speaking of attention. Ruby, would you mind taking the trash out for me? It's part of your new job!" Touka teased with a grin over her face. "Hmm... Fine. You're gonna owe me more later!" Ruby said as the exited through the frontdoor. "There's a shorter way at the back, you know!" The raven-haired ghoul shouted, making an unamused Ruby reenter the shop and go through the backdoor. Yoshimura simply chuckled over the whole event.

"Ahh, I miss my youth."

* * *

Ruby walked through the backdoor of the building towards an alleyway. The dumpster was located there, and she was tasked in throwing out some rubbish. Ruby struggled as she carried a big green bag all the way there. "This thing's really heavy..." She muttered. What was even in this stuff?

Reaching the dumpster in the alleyway, Ruby was about to open it up when she smelt the smell of something... delicious. "What's that delicious aroma in the air... It tastes just like mom's cookies..." Ruby was lured to that appetising smell. The half-ghoul wasn't too hungry herself, but that smell was just too good.

Turning a corner, Ruby saw what she would rather have not see. It was a corpse, and there was a ghoul eating from it. The ghoul noticed her presence and immediately was alarmed, growling in response. "Woah woah, I'm not here to take your um, dinner. Just make sure to clean it up afterwords..." She said, wanting him to not be so aggressive to her "I'm just throwing out the trash... Nothing to see..."

"Y-You... Aren't you a human...?" The hungry ghoul said to the huntress. "U-um... I'm not, not anymore... I can confirm it, watch." Ruby demonstrated by willing her kakugan to activate, making her left eye turn black and red. "Just one eye, don't ask why." Ruby giggled a little in her thoughts as she realised that sentence rhymed.

"D-don't disturb me then. I... I haven't eaten in a long time... This is my first meal." The ghoul said, ensuring his food would not be taken from him. "Don't worry. You just make sure to clean up that meal up after your done. See ya!" Ruby walked away from the feeding ghoul, feeling somewhat conflicted. She should have been angry at the fact that he just killed someone, but at the same time she understood what he was going through. A ghouls hunger could only be sated for so long, as she had been through. Instinct would take over if left prolonged, with Ruby already been through it once. Thinking of killing in broad daylight was bad for her and everyone around, and Ruby was glad he would only kill one while in control then kill ten when berserk.

The half-ghoul returned to her bag of trash, sighing while looking at it. The weight was going to kill her, hopefully in a non-literal sense. Dusting her hands, Ruby was about to carry it again when a figure rammed into her trash bag, falling down as a result. "Hey! That wasn't nice..." She said to the figure, upset at the torn trash bag. The figure, someone in a light blue jacket, turned around, and Ruby got the shock of her life.

It was the boy with dark hair Ruby talked with in the coffee shop yesterday, Ken Kaneki. What made her surprised was the his eyes, or rather his left eye. It had a red iris and a black _, much like what Ruby had. He had a gruesome expression, as if he was desperate to take hold of something. "R-Ruby?" He said, surprised to see her friend around these parts. "U-Uh, sorry gotta go!" Kaneki got up and continued to run on, befre. "W-wait! Where are you going to? Kaneki!?" She shouted, but the boy kept running. He turned a corner, and Ruby realised that he was going to the corpse! The hungry ghoul would be mad at the boy, and Ruby had to stop them!

The half-ghoul dashed to the location of the corpse, and saw the boy staring at the hungry ghoul with his meal. "Get away, kid. I-I want this meal, and y-you're not having it!" The ghoul said to the boy, angered at his presence. "H-Hey now. Calm down, Hey u-um... Kaneki? What are you doing here?" Ruby asked him, trying to ease the tension. "Miss, get this kid away from my meal before I kill him! I'll really kill him if he stares at me any longer, this I swe-"

"Boom."

The ghoul's head was sent flying to the side by a forceful kick to the head. He was decapitated instantly.

Ruby and Kaneki were shocked at this, and the two of them looked up to see a slim young man with messy hazelnut hair with thin glasses. "Tresspassers, always on my hunting grounds. Hmm?" The ghoul looked at the two kids before him. "I've never seen you before. For that matter, what's wrong with your eyes? That's disgusting." The half-ghouls looked at the full ghoul, unable to react. In a sudden burst of speed, the ghoul grabbed the two of them, holding both of them at chokepoint. "You're both tresspassing. Tresspassing my feeding grounds. You should know what happens when you do that, right?"

"I-I didn't know... I just happened to be... passing through!" Kaneki explained, gasping for breath. "D-Ditto! I... I was trying to stop him from... getting h-here!" Ruby explained franticly.

"Oh really?" "Well, let me ask you this. If you see your lover lying naked on the street broken and humiliated, and you her with find another guy with his pants ankles down, and he says he was just passing through. Would you believe him?"

"I... I... We..." The two tried to reply, but the need for air was overtaking their voices. Kaneki struggled to get the ghoul's hands off him, while Ruby tried to reach for her weapon. "I would kill the bastard, that's why I'm going to kill the both of you. You've trespassed onto my property, and this is simply your punishment."

"N-No... I'm not letting you... kill... either one of us!" Ruby's hands managed to take hold of her weapon and pulled the trigger, firing a bullet on the wall behind them. It would seem like a completely missed shot, but the momentum gained from it was what Ruby wanted. The ghoul was knocked off, releasing the half-ghouls as they fell to the floor.

"W-Why you little red riding hood... You really want to die that badly?" The ghoul was pissed off at huntress, his kills denied by the defiance of the girl. He would show them who owns this turf. "T-This place... This place doesn't belong to you at all!" Ruby yelled. "The ghouls at Anteiku manage who gets these grounds, and y-you aren't claming this alleyway for your own!"

"Huh!? Really? This was my feeding grounds in the first place. That purple haired binge eater is dead, and I'm simply claiming back what's mine. The brats at Anteiku just keep getting worse and worse... Whose teaching you this anyway, arrogant bitch!?" Ruby readied her weapon, unfolding it into a giant red scythe at the aggressive ghoul. "Get behind me, Kaneki." The huntress told him, as she positioned herself in a battlestance. "Insulted by a pathetic youngster with big stupid weapon, know your place kid!" The ghoul charged at Ruby, ready to strike at her. Ruby fired onto the ground beneath her, sending her flying above the ghoul. Doing a frontflip, Ruby landed gracefully behind the confused and angered ghoul. Before he could turn around, Ruby fired a shot behind that sent her flying to the ghoul, scythe poised to slash.

"Yaaaaaaaah!" Ruby battlecried as her scythe made contact with the ghoul's back. What happened after made Ruby lose her momentum, sending her tumbling to the wall. The blade of the scythe merely scratched the shirt of the ghoul, and the blade itself was bent sideways. "W-What!? My Cresent Rose!" She cried horrified. "I-I can't fight without my weapon!"

"Hah! Haven't you heard? Pathetic weapons like that can't even scratch me!" The ghoul mocked. Ruby backed away as he approached her, ready to kill. "Maybe you should get something that can even cut me!" The ghoul charged once again at Ruby, helpess without her weapon.

"How about this?" A blur zoomed past the half-ghoul, sending the ghoul flying back. "W-What... Who did that! Oh, It's you. Touka." The raven-haired girl stood in front of Ruby, guarding her from the aggressive ghoul before them. "Hello, Nishki. You know these aren't your ground anymore." She said, intimidating the ghoul before them. "I don't need another lecture! Rize is dead, this is my turf! You brats don't have to go picking over every single thing, so how about you all just fuck off!" The two of them charged at each other, ready to reap.

Touka leap at a speed Nishki couldn't react to, cutting him with her ghoulish nails. He tried to counterattack, sending his elbow at the raven-girl's head, but she ducked in time and landed more scratched to his chest, and off with a punch to the chest. Nishki was sent back, holding his chest with his arm. "Tsch. Nothing but papercuts." He mocked at Touka's strikes. "Is it?" The girl replied. Nishiki looked back in realisation, as blood gushed out from the c uts he recieved. "You wanted something that could scratch you. Can I cut you up next time?" Touka said, angering the territorial ghoul.

"Grr, You damn women!" He cried, retreating from the scene. "T-Thank you, Touka. You saved me." Ruby was helped up by Touka, grateful for her help. "How did my scythe break? It cut through a giant nevermore before!" She asked the ghoul, hoping to understand. "I'll tell you more when we get back, but know that normal weapons cannot cut through Ghouls." Touka replied, glancing to Ruby's dented Crescent Rose. At least it wasn't completely shattered.

The two of them heard the pants of the boy in the blue jacket. Kaneki had just witness a fight over three ghouls, just to claim rights for feeding grounds. He himself struggled towards the arm of the human corpse, laid there all the while. Touka seeing it, took the arm and looked at Kaneki. "You want this?" She said, the boy slowly reaching out for the arm. He stopped himself with his other arm however, with tears dropping from his eyes. "You're not eating?"

Kaneki made no response, still panting and sobbing over the whole ordeal. The flesh tasted to good, but he couldn't, no. He wouldn't bring himself to eat it. "Then again, your eye is just like Ruby's... Wait a minute..." Touka's eyes widened in surprise as she realised who he was. "You're the one that was with Rize... Why weren't you eaten...?"

"Um, Who is Rize?" Ruby muttered, unsure of the name that was being said. The Nishki ghoul even said that she had taken his hunting grounds, so who was she really? "Rize is the binge eater, a ghoul who eats humans for pleasure and not survival. One of her prey was this kid here... His eye though..." Touka explained, unsure of what happened to Kaneki. Did he encounter the same things Ruby had?

"P-Please, help me." Kaneki muttered. "I-I know you may not believe me, but I'm human. But the meat... I want to eat that..." Kaneki reached out once again, but it down with his other arm. "I want to eat it... so bad, but I can't... I can't eat that. If I eat it, I-I..." Kaneki paused, attempting to voice out the words he wanted. The meat smelt so fresh, but if he ate it... "I won't be human anymore!"

Ruby could only tear up a little as she watched Kaneki's ordeal. She had been through this before, and the acceptance of being a ghoul was the hardest part she could ever face. "If you're so hungry, eat it then." Touka offered the arm to the sobbing half-ghoul, and his eye widened open when he saw the tasty human arm by him. He controlled himself however, quickly smacking the arm away.

"N-No...! NO...! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO!" Kaneki cried his heart out, rejecting everything that had happened to him. "T-There's no way I can eat something like that. What is this, What is it like being a ghoul...? Killing humans, killing fanus, even each other! I'm not like that... I'm not like that...!" The half-ghoul rejected it all. He was no way in earth he was one of them. Kaneki shouted his lungs out, his final stand on what he was. "I-I... I AM A HUMAN!"

"K-Kaneki, I know how you feel. I... I was a human before." Ruby voiced out her experience, hoping it would give Kaneki the motivation to eat. "I... I also rejected the thought of eating human flesh. But eventually, I accepted it. I accepted that I have become a ghoul, and I really do hope you do too..."

"T-Then... Then you can't be a human either!" His words broke Ruby's heart in this state of rejection. "I will not eat it, I will not eat human flesh! I AM A HUMAN!" Kaneki cried out. Ruby could only watch as he sobbed furiously. The half-ghoul huntress looked down to the ground. He was right, she wasn't human anymore... One fact remained in her head though, Kaneki wasn't human anymore either.

"Well, if your gonna be foolish unlike like my friend here. I believe you could use some help." Touka walked over to the corpse and pulled out an arm, spewing blood onto her face. "If you don't have the courage to eat, then let me give a hand." The raven-haired ghoul quickly slammed the arm into the unaware Kaneki's mouth, pushing him up to the wall. "Eat it up. Eat!"

"Touka!" Ruby could only watch the struggle. Kaneki had a whole hand in his mouth, and Touka had just forcefully stuffed it in his mouth. "I said eat!" The ghoul said, pushing her hand up the boy's mouth. For a quick moment, Kaneki gulped in some blood from the hand and felt like a whole different person. _"It tastes so... so good... **NO!"**_ Immediately, Kaneki smacked away Touka's hand and ran to the side, puking the hand and some of his stomach acids out. Ruby felt like hurling as she watched him puke. She had puked out too many cookies as well before.

"H-How could I eat a fellow human's flesh...!? I'm not like you, I'm not even close to any of you! I'm different from you monsters!" Kaneki cried, causing Ruby's heart to sink lower and Touka to get more pissed off. The ghoul kicked the half-ghoul up and grabbed him by his hair, slamming his head onto a metal conditioner. She then brutally punched Kaneki over and over again, causing his own blood to spew out of his mouth. "Touka! Stop!" Ruby shouted, unable to bear witness to the abuse. Touka continued to beat him up, kneeing him in the stomach and threw him onto the wall.

Kaneki grunted in pain as he fell to the floor. Ruby dashed to him and helped him up. "Kaneki..." she muttered, as she supported the half-ghoul for him to lean his back on the wall. "P-Please, help me Ruby. My entire life has been turned upside down..." He muttered in distress. "Ever since... Ever since the date with Rize..."

Ruby put her hand on her mouth in shock. Rize was the purple haired woman!? _"That, didn't went well in the end..."_ Ruby thought. "Kaneki, listen. I know, it's really hard for you to accept this." The female half-ghoul spoke to the fellow male half-ghoul. "It's just that, this world isn't a fairy tale. What we have become is what we have become. Don't think of your condition as a burden, think of it as a benefit. You're just like me now, a half-ghoul. We are the bridge that can make the dream of Humans and Ghouls coexisting come true!"

"B-But human food, and t-that arm... I can't..." Kaneki still brought up some points. He could no longer taste the delicious taste of Hamburgers in his mouth, nor could Ruby taste regular cookies in that matter. "It was hard for me just as well. I can't eat my mom's cooking anymore, no matter how hard I try, so please Kaneki. You're my friend, so get a hold of yourself, as I have." Ruby's words sparked a new hope within him. He was not alone in this ordeal, and now he had someone he could trust with this.

"Well said, Ruby." Yoshimura said as he walked towards the three of them. "Correct me if your name isn't Kaneki, but please come with me."

"Come on, let's go Kaneki. You'll be safe with us." Ruby said, helping Kaneki to get up on his feet and helped him follow the manager.

"T-Thank you, Ruby."

* * *

 _End_

 _Let's make a tragedy less tragic now shall we._


	6. Chapter 5: Only The Hunger

**Chapter 5**

 **== Only The Hunger ==**

 **Rewritten this. Changes in story with Ruby and Ozpin down below.**

* * *

"Here you go. Drink up now." The manager of Anteiku made cup of coffee for the boy in the blue jacket. Touka and Ruby watched from the tables by the wall. Kaneki stared at the coffee, unsure of how to react to it. "What's the matter, don't like coffee?" Yoshimura asked.

"No it's not that, I love coffee. It's just…" Kaneki was unsure of himself, but the manager's reassurance gave him the morale to drink it up.

"So Touka, why did my scythe break against that other guy's skin?" Ruby asked as they watched Kaneki, the huntress knocking on the table with her finger.

"You see ghouls are resistant in many ways that humans aren't. Metal can't pierce through our skin, and we are immune to most infections." The raven-haired ghoul explained, to Ruby who looked at the weapon by her side. "Your weapon can't scratch any of us, not even you. It's still effective against grimm, but they aren't really ghouls to begin with."

Ruby thought about what Touka told her. Her metal's scythe could not be used to combat ghouls, which made the huntress frown at the revelation. "So what can hurt a ghoul?" She continued to ask.

"Well, I'm no expert, but most of the time only ghouls can harm each other. Maybe a large enough impact can kill us, as what had happened to Rize." Touka explained, thinking back to the binge eater.

The two of them paused to see Yoshimura hand out a package to Kaneki, as he got up and proceeded to leave the store.

"Wait, Kaneki!" Ruby said, getting the half-ghoul's attention. "Let me give you my number. Call me when you need help!"

"T-Thanks. Bye, Ruby." Kaneki replied while looking down. Ruby dialled her scroll number to Kaneki's, and he strolled out of the store.

"Oh, speaking of which. Who was Rize really? All I know is that she's the binge eater who attacked Kaneki." Ruby asked again, wanting to get the facts straight. The manager walked to the two of them, and explained what he heard from the huntress.

"Rize was the infamous binge eater of the 20th ward. She's well known for only killing men." Yoshimura explained. "Do you remember the story of an emergency organ transplant?"

"Wasn't that my story?" Ruby questioned with a raised eyebrow. She did have an emergency transplant recently, which eventually brought her to work at Anteiku.

"Yes it is, but after your operation, yet another transplant was made." Yoshimura answered.

"Wait, you can't mean that…" Ruby realised what Yoshimura was going at.

"Unfortunately, yes. Kaneki had Rize's organs transplanted into him, as steel beams crushed the two of them." The manager confirmed.

"So Kaneki is in my situation, being a half-ghoul and all?"

"Indeed, Ruby. I'm afraid he's not taking it as well as you are however."

"That's not good. Maybe I should check up on him tomorrow. He might not eat that package you gave him, for I'm sure he's not as fond of cookies as I am." Ruby said, concerned for her friend.

Kaneki and Ruby were in the journey of going through the half-ghoul state, and Ruby wanted her friend to not look at the adventure as such a burden.

"I should check up on him tomorrow. I wonder how he'll be with his friend, the Hide guy I think."

"That's, nice of you Ruby. It's getting rather late though, and I think your teammates should be waiting." Yoshimura said, looking at his watch. It was 10:23 and Ruby was nowhere near her dorm.

"Geez, times flies when you're having fun doesn't it…" The half-ghoul huntress muttered. "I'll see you tomorrow, see you!" Ruby waved goodbye to Yoshimura and Touka as she made her leave.

* * *

Kaneki sat at his bed alone, within the darkness. It was dark since the curtains were closed, but either way he was alone. The events that turned out for him made him unable to think straight.

 _"Ruby was human before, like me…"_ He thought to himself, looking back at the events that transpired. _"How is she taking is so well? I can't eat human flesh; if I do I'll give up my humanity…"_

He looked at the package the manager of Anteiku gave him. It was obviously human flesh, no need to guess, but could he really eat it? Kaneki's stomach growled and his unwanted instincts called to him

" _Flesh… Flesh… FLESH… FLESH… FLESH…! FLESH..! FLESH! FLESH!"_

His mind filled with thoughts he didn't want, the urge to eat the package rising. Kaneki put his hands to his head, attempting to disarray his thoughts

" _FLESH! FLESH! FLESH! FLESH! FLESH! FLESH! FLESH! FLESH!"_

The half-ghoul couldn't resist it any longer. With a leap from his bed, Kaneki went to the packet by his bed. Panting from the withdrawal he faced, the hungry half-ghoul put his hands on the package, ready to tear it apart.

" _EAT IT EAT IT EAT IT EAT IT EAT IT EAT IT EAT IT_ "

" _ **Yes, eat it…"**_

Kaneki's hunger strike was interrupted rudely by the ringing of his scroll, snapping the half-ghoul's drunken state back to reality. Kaneki glanced up to his phone, and saw the text from the screen. Broken out of the trance, Kaneki quickly came to his senses and threw the package of flesh aside.

The text was from his best friend, Hideyoshi Nagachika.

Message from Hide: "You're going to die alone."

Kaneki looked solemn at such a brutally honest text, but that was his best friend anyway. Hide was always like that, never changing. The half-ghoul quickly packed his stuff as he prepared to attend his University, wearing a brown trench coat over himself.

He had to leave his house before the urge to eat the package returned. Packing his essentials in a brown sling bag, Kaneki prepared to get going when he received yet another text, this time from a fellow half-ghoul.

Message from Ruby: "Wanna meet up?"

* * *

"Message Sent to Kaneki."

Ruby put her scroll by her pillow and stared at the ceiling after sending the text. She was on her bunk bed, loosely hung up by ropes as ever, right above her teammate Weiss's. Speaking of the heiress, Ruby wondered how Weiss's dove investigation thingy turned out. The half-ghoul got her upper half of the body to look at Weiss while still being at her bed, seeing the Ice Queen from upside-down.

"Morning, Weiss!"

"Good morning." The barely awake Weiss replied, as she got off her bed.

"How was your dove assistance thingy?" Ruby asked as Weiss walked towards the fridge, grabbing a bottle of water.

"It's called the Investigator Assistance program, and it went well. They taught me about the basics of ghouls, RC cells and whatnot. Did you know ghouls can live on a single dead body for at least two months?" Weiss said, gaining Ruby's interest.

"It makes you wonder why so many of them have to murder my company's employees…" Weiss's tone took a solemn drop, making Ruby feel a little bad inside as well. The half-ghoul jumped off her bed and next to Weiss as she took a sip of her bottle.

"Don't feel so bad, I'm sure those ghouls were as bad as Roman Torchwick." Ruby cheered up Weiss while also thinking back on a fact. Not all ghouls wanted to kill, as the staff on Anteiku demonstrated.

"Ugh, all of them are just pure good-for-nothing degenerates. They don't deserve to exist in this world!" The Schnee heiress yelled, ranting about how bad ghouls were.

"U-Um, that's why the CCG exists I think." Ruby stated, holding back mild sadness that built up within her. The half-ghoul now felt in the same position Blake was before, but this time in a worse situation. If people knew she was a half-ghoul, Weiss wasn't the only one she'd have to deal with. The thought of possibly fighting against her friends saddened the half-ghoul.

"Good morning everyone! It's time to do nothing for the rest of the day!" Yang shouted as she jumped off her bed onto the floor, again shocking the recently-woken Weiss.

"You two really need to stop doing that. At least Blake has the decency to-" Weiss stopped herself when she noticed Blake wasn't at her bed, face palming as a result. "Why does she always do that!?"

Ruby chuckled as Yang teased Weiss, with the blonde snagging the bottle she had and running in circles around the dorm. The Ice Queen created a Glyph that exploded below Yang, sending her flying to the ceiling, and letting go of the bottle which Weiss caught without breaking a sweat. As Yang fell down from above, Ruby's scroll rang from her bed. Jumping back up her bunkbed, the half-ghoul saw a reply text from Kaneki.

Message from Kaneki: "Sure. I'll be at Kamii University, meet me by the front gate."

"Woah Ruby, finally getting yourself a man aren't you?" Yang teased her younger sister, causing her to blush.

"N-No…! I'm just meeting up a friend I met in the café, nothing much." Ruby explained, making Yang smirk in response.

"Ahh, Of course you are…" The blonde said with glee. Ruby threw her pillow into Yang's face in annoyance.

"Whatever, I'm going now. See you all later." Ruby pocketed her scroll as she jumped off her bunk bed, grabbing her combat skirt from her belongings and taking off to the bathroom to change. This left Weiss and Yang in their dorm, and the latter was happy to start a new conversation with the former.

"So Weiss, have you heard of Anteiku?"

* * *

Ruby looked into the mirror, checking if there was anything wrong with her looks. Twirling around in her combat skirt, the half-ghoul concluded that she was ready to meet Kaneki. She had her weapon with her and had pocketed a small plastic bag with her red-hued cookies.

Despite Crescent Rose's Blade being dented, it was still able to fold into idle mode and the sniper rifle function still worked. Ruby could still take a shot and jump around any potential enemies, even if she couldn't slash at them.

"The blade is used for killing Grimm only anyway, so I should be fine." She told herself.

Before heading out of the bathroom, Ruby wanted try controlling her kakugan. Willing her eye to turn red, she found that it was quite easy to transform it into ghoul state. The problem she found however, was turning it back to her normal silver eye.

"Come on eye, silver is a nice colour too. Change back please..." The one-eyed ghoul muttered. To her dismay, she couldn't will it back to normal. Sighing, Ruby took out a medical eyepatch from her other pocket; the one Yang had given to her. Placing it over her ghoulish left eye, Ruby looked satisfied with her look.

Ruby headed out of the bathroom and made her way down the dorm hallways. Classes were cancelled for a month in preparation for the Vytal festival, and Ruby could use this time along with Yang to work at Anteiku.

"I wonder if Weiss or Blake would like to work there." Ruby thought to herself. "Maybe not Weiss though, she's well... Weiss."

Walking down a corner, Ruby found herself daydreaming on the way. As a result she hadn't had time to move out of the way before she bumped into someone.

"Oof, sorry!" She apologised, before looking up to see the face of the person she bumped into.

"Professor Ozpin!" Ruby said, her eyes widening in surprise upon seeing the headmaster in the corridor. "What are you doing here?"

"Oh, nothing really. I just wanted to check on how our first year students, such as yourself are holding up." The White-haired Man replied. Adjusting his glasses, the professor continued. "Now let me ask what are you doing here, Ruby?"

"I'm on my way to meet someone outside of campus. His name's Kaneki, and he's a really great friend." Ruby explained.

"Why, that's a cute eyepatch you have there. What's wrong with your eye?" The headmaster asked, noticing the eyepatch on Ruby's left eye.

"Oh, um... My eye has been feeling a bit painful these couple days. Yang gave me this eyepatch to keep myself from scratching it actually." Ruby said, attempting to give a reasonable explanation. The half-ghoul hoped that her kakugan has receded by now, so if she had to remove it, no one would find out.

Ozpin chuckled at Ruby's attempt at convincing him. "Oh don't worry. Your eyes will be fine no matter what colour they are. Silver does go well with red and black."

The colours the headmaster mentioned to her made the half-ghoul raise an eyebrow. "Red and Black? Isn't that the color of a..."

Ruby realised what the headmaster meant by his phrase, instinctively gulping in fear. Did the headmaster know she was a ghoul?

"H-Headmaster! It's n-not what you think!" Ruby cried in fear, her heart pounding by the thought of being discovered.

Ozpin put his hand on Ruby's shoulder as the huntress began to panic in fear. "Don't worry Ruby, there is nothing to fear." The headmaster reassured. "What do you believe I'm thinking right now?"

"Um, I'm thinking that you think I'm a..." Ruby stumbled. The professor's riddles puzzled the poor girl, and now she was moments away from giving out her half-ghoul condition.

Ozpin simply chuckled and pat Ruby on the back. "Don't worry, Ruby. I won't try to pry any secrets from you." The professor humbly stated. "But, if there's anything you need to talk to me about, feel free to do so."

Now Ruby felt torn between exposing her secret to the headmaster and keeping it to herself. Going around and casually telling everyone you're a ghoul is a good way to get them to dislike you, after all.

"Thanks Ozpin… But I'm fine." She hesitantly stated. She felt her lies crawling down her back while doing so, and she put her hands behind her back in shame. "I need to get going now though. I've got someone I want to meet."

As Ruby slowly walked away from the headmaster, she mentally scolded herself for telling a lie. It wasn't in her nature to do such a thing, and she hoped she wouldn't have to keep doing this to everyone.

Ozpin simply sighed and continued his own way. He turned to the huntress for a brief moment and shook his head.

"The innocence of youth… always such a naïve yet beautiful thing to behold." Ozpin turned to Ruby's stroll out of Beacon.

 _"Take care, huntress in training."_

* * *

Kaneki entered the gate to Kamii University. He looked around, seeing the familiar brick layered walls of the various buildings the university had. The green hedges stood still despite the wind, and the building in front of him, the main school facility, had the big clock which everyone could tell the time by just glancing.

There was one thing that Kaneki felt he had lost however, it being depth perception. Kaneki took the liberty to wear a medical eyepatch over his left eye, afraid that the kakugan may activate all of a sudden. It was a smart move on his part, since he had little control on when it would turn. Kaneki took out his scroll and checked his messages, and saw a text he had received from Hideyoshi.

 ***Read*** Message from Hide: "Lonely in history class. Need my notes later?"

"Hide…" Kaneki muttered. Hide was Kaneki's best friend, and without him Hide had no one else to talk to through the boring history lessons. Sighing, Kaneki put his scroll back into his pocket and slowly proceeded to walk to the main school building.

"Kaneki!" A voice called out to him from behind. Turning around, Kaneki saw a familiar looking girl in her usual attire running up to him. It was the girl he made friends with a few days ago, Ruby Rose. "Wait up!" she called.

"Oh! Hello Ruby." Kaneki greeted as Ruby caught up to him. To his surprise, the huntress wore the same medical eyepatch he did.

"Hi, Kaneki! You wearing an eyepatch too? That's neat. We can be like, eyepatch buddies!" Ruby cheerful said. The aura of joy Ruby had around her couldn't help but make him smile.

"You're not wrong." Kaneki replied.

The two of them chatted near endlessly about things. Ruby had gotten on a story when the team had discovered their teammate Blake was a fanus, with Weiss freaking out and everything.

"And then I met this girl called Penny and she was all super cool in combat. She had flying green swords and everything!" Ruby described, recalling the events as it played out in her head. "But then the Roman guy got away in an aircraft. I have this strange feeling his semblance is creating escapes…"

Kaneki genuinely enjoyed Ruby's cheerful company. He had another friend he could turn to and trust.

"Hide was my only friend. I was an outcast who only read books, until he picked me up. From there we graduated from the same school and made it into Kamii. I haven't had anyone else in a long time." Kaneki said, making Ruby look at him with concern.

"Don't worry Kaneki, I'm your friend. You count on me!" Ruby assured, giving Kaneki a big happy smile.

The two continued to walk and talk in happiness until they heard a conversation going on between two students. "What I tell you, the bakery by the train station had the best cookies!" One of them said, with the other munching said cookies in agreement.

Kaneki looked at the one eating the cookie, looking down in mild disappointment.

"Kaneki… Don't worry. We're in this together." Ruby reassured, pointing to her eyepatch. "I'm your friend, don't worry." Kaneki smiled at Ruby's reassurance.

"Thanks, Ruby."

"KAAAAAANEEEEKIIIIIIIIIIII!"

The two turned around to see an orange blonde haired student run up and forcefully hug Kaneki before swinging him around by his shoulders.

"Damnit Kaneki! How long you gonna skip classes! I had to sit through two hours of complete boredom you jerk!" Hideyoshi shook Kaneki brutally back and forth, with Ruby giggling at the brotherhood they had. "If you don't come back I swear I'm gonna die of loneliness..."

"Woah, easy. Sorry man." Kaneki replied, facing his palm to the blonde.

"What's with the eyepatch? Some kind of trend I missed out? Is this supposed to be a hipster look now?" Hideyoshi ranted while examining his friend's new accessory.

Kaneki looked down to the floor as his friend talked about. _"All these years, and Hide's never changed."_ The half-ghoul recalled the times when they were younger, and Hide did these exact same things.

"U-Um, Hi there!" Ruby called out to the blonde, who was swinging Kaneki's dozing head back and forth. Hide looked at the source of the voice, and found himself looking at a red-haired beauty.

"Well hello there cute little lady. Aren't you the girl we saw a few days ago? That girl I made this daydreamer go make up and kiss?" Hide teased, making Kaneki snap back to reality and blush alongside Ruby.

"N-No! We didn't kiss!" They both said simultaneously, making the playful blonde chuckle. "I'm sure you two did."

"What are you doing on campus anyway? Never seen you around Kamii." Hide asked the girl in red. He noticed the similar looking eyepatch on Ruby's face. "Wow, eyepatches really are a trend I did miss out on didn't I…"

"Maybe…?" Ruby answered to Hide's latter sentence. "I'm just hanging out with Kaneki. I attend Beacon Academy, and they're having a break from classes for the Vytal festival soon."

"Beacon?" Hide exclaimed in amazement. "Wow, an actual huntress! How's it like over there, training to fight those grim baddies outside. It sure must be a whole lot of fun isn't it."

"It's nothing really, I just got in two year earlier than everyone else…" Ruby's innocent statement unwillingly made the blonde's jaw drop in complete astonishment.

"Woah, now am I glad I matchmaked the two of you or what?" Hide smirked at his own luck, before him was a literal prodigy! "Hide!" The two half-ghouls yelled in union.

* * *

"So, I gotta go grab some materials from Nishio. He's kinda snarky, but mostly okay." Hide explained as he strolled towards the upper classmens building. "Wanna come with me?"

"Sure, why not." He replied.

Hide stretched his two hands behind his head as they walked through the bridge connector. "And I'm sure Ruby wouldn't mind following you as well. I mean, she did ask you out."

"I'm not his girlfriend…! just a… really good friend." Ruby replied while her cheeks slowly puffed up.

"Oooh, Friendzoned. Tough luck Kaneki."

"Hide!" Kaneki yelled at his blonde friend, who just kept on walking. "The feeling's mutual."

"Eh, whatever. I'm just gonna make the call that the two of you are gonna date in the future, okay?" Hide continued, making the two half-ghoul's already embarrassed faces turn red as cherries.

"HIDE!" The two said at the same time.

"Heh, lovebirds."

On the way towards the pharmacy building, Hide stopped to ask Kaneki a question.

"Hey, I don't mean to pry, but are you eating alright? You're looking kinda pale." He said to Kaneki, his tone lower than usual. "You're gonna have to eat better if you wanna stay healthy."

"O-Okay, I will." Kaneki looked down.

Hide always was a perceptive fellow, and he always played it cool. He would tell what people would say before they would, and that trait really hadn't changed at all.

 _"He's always looking out for me. I-I hope he doesn't find out. If I stop being human, I can't hang out with him anymore…"_ Kaneki thought. He would not give up his humanity, not until he found a way out.

The male half-ghoul felt his fellow half-ghoul friend put a hand on his shoulder, as if she thought the same thing.

"We're in this together, remember it." Ruby whispered, giving Kaneki some needed hope.

Eventually the two of them made their way to the pharmacy building, climbing up the stairs.

"Thanks again for coming along. You two will really like him." Hide began, as they walked to the higher elevation. "Like I said, he's kinda snarky and has this weird mysterious vibe to him. I think it makes him cool though, but it's all really hard to explain."

They reached the floor that Hide said he was, and walked through the corridor.

"Shouldn't you knock first?" Ruby suggested before Hide could open the door. "Hmm, Nah. He probably wouldn't mind." The blonde replied, as he opened the door uncaringly. "Hey Nishio!"

"KYAAAAAAAAAAAA!" A loud cry sounded from the dorm, and the three saw a young lady barge out of the room.

"Yeah, you should have knocked." Ruby deadpanned, as the trio saw her run down the corridor.

"You always barge into places without any warning, Nagachika?" An unamused voice said from the dorm interior.

"Sorry about that. Wasn't thinking straight." Hide replied apologetically. The man inside adjusted his glasses.

"No shit, Sherlock. Nothing pisses me off then someone disrespecting my territory." He said as he turned his chair around to face them.

"So yeah, this is the Kaneki guy I've been talking about, and his friend Ruby." Hide gestured to the duo behind them. Ruby and Kaneki saw who Hide was talking to, and the two of them gasped in realisation.

Memories of the encounter they had in the alleyway surged up, memories they would rather leave buried and forgotten.

"Nishki Nishio, second year student at the School of Pharmacy." The hazelnut-haired student introduced, putting his arms on their shoulders as he leaned closer to their ears.

 **"It's nice to meet the two of you, Ruby and Kaneki."** The two half-ghouls could only gulp in fear, with the slithering threat in his tone sending shivers up their spines.

* * *

Nishki and Hide searched around the dorm for the data the latter needed, with Ruby and Kaneki standing in place. "So you need last year's numbers right, Hide?" The hazelnut teen asked as he searched the dorm's cupboard.

"Yeah, but I only need the retail data. Think it's about a murder of five kids in 1987." Hide explained, as he himself searched the piles of files by the floor.

"Ugh, I think I left it at home. Gotta make the trip there to get it." Nishki groaned as he sat back on his chair, putting his hand on his forehead in forgetfulness.

"Aww, man. Seriously?" Hide commented. "If you want we could walk there right now. I'm sure it's under my desk or something."

"Ugh, I need that data." Hide grumbled. "Sorry guys. Hate to ditch ya but I really need those materials. We'll catch up some other time."

"Alright." Ruby said, scratching her back in nervousness. She did want to leave the dorm of the ghoul she fought, he gave her the creeps.

"U-Um, wait! Excuse me, Nishki. Mind if I tag along?" Kaneki said, going against what Ruby wanted.

"Eh?" The other two of the duo got confused.

"What's gotten into you?" Hide whispered.

"Yeah, what's wrong?" Ruby did as well.

Before Kaneki could reply, Nishki already had begun stating his answer. "Alright sure, why not? If you'll excuse me first I gotta take this call." The hazelnut teen said as his scroll rang.

As he got up to answer, The two confused students asked Kaneki about his rash decision, with him replying that he'd just wanted to follow Hide.

"Hey, what'd you see." Nishki called out to the blonde. "Who, me?" He said, as he gestured him to talk about the girl they saw earlier.

"Kaneki, I hope you're sure about this." Ruby whispered to him hesitantly. She was still willing to tag along with them however. "I-It's fine, really." Kaneki whispered back. "It's just… all these ghouls are popping up…"

"Well, we weren't a part of their world before. We just didn't notice them before." Ruby quietly explained back. Kaneki nodded in agreement as he looked at some cocoa beans by Nishki's window. _"We just weren't paying attention."_

"Hey, Ruby. Come here, I've got someone you should talk some sense into." Nishki gestured to the huntress as he pointed to Hide.

"If someone barged into your room when you were making out, what would you do?" The hazelnut teen asked. Ruby mildly blushed as she thought of herself in the situation.

"U-Um, I would um… slap them?" She answered innocently.

"Good idea, thanks girl." Nishki immediately slapped Hide in the face, knocking him back a few inches.

"H-Hey! What was that for!?" The blonde cried while confused and in pain, covering the spot he was just hit at.

"It's just that my girl wanted to get back at you for barging in, and since I'm not a girl nor is she here, I'll do the favour a girl would well, normally get back on." Nishki explained.

Ruby immediately blushed as she realised what her suggestion resulted in.

"Sorry!"

* * *

The three of them walked down the streets of Vale, stopping by a bakery shop at the side. "You guys want one?" Nishki suggested, pointing to the snacks being shown outside.

"Yeah, thanks man!" Hide said, the slap mark on his face long faded minutes ago.

Ruby and Kaneki watched from afar, with the latter opening his jaw unable to react. The hazelnut teen gave each of them a delicious burrito.

He was about to give one to Ruby when she pulled out a plastic packet from her pocket. "No thanks, I have my own." She stated, as she showed red-hued cookies to Nishki. "Would you want one of these instead?"

"Nah, it's my treat to all of you." Nishki said, turning down the offer. He handed the rest of the burritos to Hide and Kaneki, with the latter feeling that he would puke if he tried it.

"Thanks again man!" Hide said as he received his own burrito.

"So, you guys in any clubs or something? Play any games? Good with sports?" Nishki began a conversation with Ruby and Kaneki as they continued to walk down the streets.

"Um, not really. I do play Duststone though, and it's a really fun game." Ruby said, getting the Hazelnut teen's interest.

"Duststone eh? Never saw you are the kind who plays cards. I don't find them too interesting myself honestly, can't find the fun in it." He replied while eating the burrito.

Kaneki became puzzled at the fact that he could even let his tongue make contact with the burrito. Wasn't he supposed to be a ghoul? How was he doing that!?

"What about you, Kaneki? Your friend's so active with all the clubs and stuff that I'm sure his influence could rub off you in a way." Nishki asked, this time to Kaneki, who was snapped out of his train of thought.

"O-Oh, um. I'm not so good with those kinds of stuff. I'm bad in large crowds." He replied.

"Hmm, exact opposite eh? I wouldn't expect much anyway." Nishki commented as he took another bite of his burrito. "This is the best one I've tasted."

"Yeah, I agree. This thing's great!" Hide agreed. Kaneki could only stare bewildered by the fact that the ghoul before him could eat food so easily.

 _"It's no wonder I've never noticed them. They act just like anyone else would."_ He told himself.

"I prefer cookies actually." Ruby added in as she gobbled one of her red-hued cookies in her mouth. "Cookies and milk though, but I've run out of all the milk…"

 _"Even Ruby? Oh wow, wasn't she human before? Now how is she eating it!?"_ Kaneki thought, his jaw never closing itself. He leaned into the happy half-ghoul's ear as she chewed her cookie.

"How are you eating that!?" He whispered, wanting to know the technique of blending in.

"I'll tell you later, you're not gonna like the details though." Ruby whispered back, raising a red cookie to his face. "You should try this one though, it's edible!"

* * *

Eventually the four of them walked into a sheltered area, an overpass above them. Kaneki considered about trying the cookie, but felt for some reason he shouldn't.

He was about to voice out his opinion when suddenly they heard a kick make contact. The two of them looked up to see the figure of Hide being sent flying towards the dark alley, their eyes widening in utter shock.

"HIDE!" The two of them cried.

"Hah, He doesn't need to see this. I thought I was the only ghoul on campus, guess I'm not anymore." The hazelnut ghoul walked to the duo's side, as the two half-ghoul continued to look in horror.

Sniffing the air, Nishki continued his threats. "You smell just like a female ghoul, I'm not talking about red here though. I'm talking about Rize!"

In a quick movement, Nishki kicked Ruby into the dark alley and grasped hold of Kaneki's neck, slamming him onto a metal pillar.

"Don't think I don't know your plan. You were gonna eat Nagachika weren't you. Don't you just love that look of complete anguish when they realise what you are!? The face of complete realisation in their last moments before you kill them!? Am I not wrong!?"

Nishki's face turned sadistic as he threatened the boy with his hold of Kaneki's neck growing tighter. "AM I NOT WRONG!? AM I!?"

"Y-You… monster… I'm not… like you… ghouls!" Kaneki coughed out a few words in attempt to retort, causing then hazelnut ghoul to give a look of utter unamusement.

"Really now?" Nishki threatened. He brutally tossed Kaneki into the alleyway, him being the last of the three to gather upon the wall at the end of the tunnel. Coughing up blood as his body slammed against the wall, he fell down to the floor in complete and utter pain.

"K-Kaneki…!" He heard from Ruby, who likewise was also as hurt as he was.

"That burrito tasted just like horsecrap. How can you even eat this stuff?" Nishki walked to the three figures laid helpless on the floor, as the hazelnut ghoul stuffed three finger into his mouth. His body reacted to the action, causing him to puke it all out onto Hide's back.

"Heh, sorry now. I guess you're meal had puke all over it."

Kaneki and Ruby both managed to get up, and quickly stood away from the hazelnut ghoul. Nishki however, quickly grabbed Ruby by the throat, as he stomped his foot onto Hide's head.

"L-Let go of me…!" The huntress cried, struggling helplessly as she was hung from the ghoul's tight grasp.

"So Kaneki? How were the both of you planning to share to meal?" Nishki taunted as Kaneki stood clutching his chest. "You both can't possibly share. We don't do that! It's all ghouls for themselves, and hey. Maybe I'll rid the competition for you!"

Nishki slammed Ruby onto a nearby van, and punch a hole right through her chest.

"R-RUBY!" Kaneki cried, as the girl dropped to the floor, vomiting blood from such a brutal impact.

"So how about it? I've let you have him all for yourself. How about you thank me?" Nishki stepped on Hide's head multiple times, the stomps slowly causing blood to rupture out.

"S-Stop…! Please, Hide is not food!" Kaneki begged, all while the ghoul continued to stomp on the head. "I can't hear you!" He mocked, laughing manically as his stomps never ceased.

"I SAID HIDE'S NOT FOOD!" Kaneki charged at Nishki, using his bag as a weapon.

"Really, a bag? Are you supposed to be an old lady!?" The ghoul yelled manically as he dodged Kaneki's swing and counterattacked with a brutal kick, sending him flying onto the ceiling. Nishki walked towards the male half-ghoul as he dropped from the ceiling.

"You just don't understand eh? Humans aren't friends, they're food! They always have been and always are!" The hazelnut haired ghoul held Kaneki by his hair, as he struggled to comprehend the pain he felt.

"So how about I help you now. I'll kill that poor sap Ruby over there, and let you eat your best friend uncontested. We don't like to share, so like I said you should be thanking me!"

Nishki kicked Kaneki to the side, his body colliding with yet another metal support.

"I'm a man of my word, so let me take out that Ruby kid for you. What was she, like fifteen? No one would even notice her gone!" Nishki strolled towards the body of Ruby, who managed to get up during the time he spent with Kaneki.

"I-I'm not… going to let you… kill anyone of us…" Ruby proclaimed, preparing her weapon. While holding her chest, Ruby used her free hand to grab hold of her weapon, transforming it to scythe mode.

"Hah! You think that toy will work against me? The blade's even dented! Stop being so pathetic and just die!"

Nishki charged towards the wounded half-ghoul, ready to send her flying. Ruby angled her weapon to the ground, and with the click of a trigger, shot a bullet down below, the momentum sending her soaring up into the air above.

Without hesitation, Ruby fired another shot this time to the ceiling sending her straight towards Nishki. Before she reached him however, she aimed and fired at the hazelnut ghoul, sending a bullet towards him as she was propelled above and over him.

The bullet shot at the ghoul simply bounced off him however, and Nishki just laughed at the pathetic stunt the huntress did.

"Is this really all a huntress can do!? Jump around in circles forever, you're going nowhere with this!" Nishki dashed towards the huntress, and immediately kicked her in her already wounded chest, sending her rolling towards the body of Kaneki. "You pathetic one-eyes can't ever understand. Maybe I'll have to kill little Nagachika here for you to learn!"

The ghoul walked to Hide and put his foot down on him. "You're friend here is gonna scream like the hell had claimed a new- No wait, really? Unconscious already? Pathetic."

" _I've never been more glad to hear those words…"_ Kaneki thought. At least his best friend wasn't able to see the gruesome encounter he was kicked into.

Nishki prepared to finally take the life of the blonde before him. A blue tentacle-like structure slithered down the ghoul's leg as he raised his foot to end the life of Nagachika Hideyoshi. "Say your prayers, Nagachika." He said, his Kagune all but prepared to end a life.

" _Hide… No…"_ Kaneki's life flashed back before his eyes as he recalled the moments of childhood he spent with his only friend.

* * *

" _Hey, there. Why are you always reading books by yourself?"_ The young Hide walked towards the Kaneki as he read his book by the riverside. " _What's wrong with that?"_ Kaneki replied, unsure of what the kid before him thought.

" _I'll cut to the action. I just moved here from Mistral and I haven't really made any new friends yet, so in that case…"_ Hide extended his hand out to Kaneki. " _Let's be friends!"_ The young blonde cheerfully proclaimed. " _Sure… I-I'm Kaneki, what's yours?"_

" _I'm Nagachika Hideyoshi, but that's a mouthful. Call me Hide!"_ The two of them shook hands, as they became friends for the first time in their lives.

" _From that day onward, Hide was there for me. I was an outcast to everyone else, but ever since he picked me up I've never been happier…"_ Kaneki was his best and only friend he had until he met Ruby, and even then she was in the same situation he was.

The two of them were in a dire situation, and Kaneki couldn't lose either one of them. He wouldn't let it happen, not over his dead body.

" _I don't want my best friends…_ _ **TO DIE!"**_

* * *

"Kaneki…" Ruby muttered as she got up to see three blood-red tentacles splurge out of his back. Kaneki summoned the organ all ghouls used to fight, the Kagune.

"I WON'T LET YOU KILL MY FRIENDS!" Kaneki proclaimed as he shot them out towards the opposing ghoul.

"Now it's on!"

Nishki jumped high up in the air to avoid the Rinkaku appendage closing in on him, chuckling in delight. The weakling was finally fighting back, and he was going to make him regret it.

While in the air, Nishki sent his own Kagune towards Kaneki with intention to pierce through his skull. The enraged half-ghoul dodge the strike, and instead grabbed hold onto Nishki's blue Bikaku with his Rinkaku wrapped around it.

"Clever!" He commented as he sent his Bikaku back to him, preparing to kick Kaneki for his trickiness.

The kick contacted onto Kaneki's Kagune instead of his head, completely backfiring his plans. As Kaneki closed in on Nishki, he jumped off his Blue coloured Kagune and knocked Nishki back with his body. With him unable to react, Kaneki quickly sent his three Rinkaku tentacles directly at his body.

"HHRRAUAAAAUUGUGHGHG!" Nishki was struck by the Blood red Kagune as it pierced directly through him, letting out a blood-curling cry of agony.

Kaneki wasn't stopping there, however. He quickly shot his Kagune into him again, doing it over and over.

"S-STOP YOU PIECE OF SHIT YOU-YOU'LL KILL ME!" Nishki was made helpless to Kaneki's wrath as the Rinkaku continuously pierced his chest, sending blood splattering everywhere around them.

"Kaneki…" Ruby watched in both awe and horror as Nishki flailed around within Kaneki's strikes attempting to be set free.

As the three tentacles pierced through him at once, Kaneki sent the opposing ghoul flying up onto the railings above. His head was stuck between two bars with the rest of his body hanging down from them, giving him the look of a hanged victim.

"T-That was Rize's… Kagune…" Nishki could only mutter before he choked up some blood from his mouth. "How…"

With him defeated and severely wounded by the frail boy he once underestimated, Nishki, the ghoul who struck first, feel unconscious with injuries a normal human would instantly die from.

"K-Kaneki, you did it…" Ruby muttered as she got up from the floor, slowly walking towards the fellow half-ghoul. "You s-saved Hide and I…"

The half-ghoul put her hand on Kaneki's shoulder as she laid down on his body in exhaustion.

"Thank you… You truly are my friend."

* * *

Through Kaneki's eyes, the world suddenly went grey. His head felt shaky as he began to lose himself.

" _ **Isn't he just the tasty one…"**_ A familiar voice sounded through Kaneki's head. _**"That aroma just makes you so hungry, doesn't it Kaneki?"**_

"W-What!? Who said that!?" Kaneki looked back and forth in the alleyway, but he couldn't find the source of it.

 _ **"Oh sweet Kaneki, I'm right behind you."**_ Kaneki turned to see the figure of his former girlfriend lay on his back. _**"There's this little tasty treat right in front of you. A little snack you'd just love to gobble up!"**_

Kaneki quickly shoved Rize off his back, yelling at the unreal ghoul before him. "No! Hide's my friend. I'm not going to eat him!"

"Kaneki!? What's gotten into you!?" Ruby said as she got up from the floor. To the crazed half-ghoul, the huntress's words only came out as muffles.

"I'm not going to eat Hide! I'm not going to!" Kaneki cried, bringing his hands to his head in a state of panic.

"Of course you aren't, He's our friend! We aren't going to eat him!" Ruby yelled with concern to the frantic half-ghoul.

" _ **Now now, don't be so foolish. Take a closer look, isn't he just appetising?"**_

Kaneki's mouth started to droll as he looked at his blonde friend's unconscious body.

"I-I see it… I see it!" He said with a small smirk. That smirk turned into a small pant, as his eyes stared at the best friend on the floor.

The pants turned into giggles, and the giggles turned into manic laughter. "H-He does pretty… Delicious…!"

"Kaneki snap out of it! Hide isn't food, what are you saying!?" Ruby put her hand on Kaneki's shoulder once again, with much concern to her half-ghoul friend. Immediately she was shoved off by Kaneki, his eyes now staring at the girl.

 _ **"That food is supposed to be all yours Kaneki! But this girl here looks like she wants to take it from you. You're not gonna let it happen are you?"**_ The voice within the hungry half-ghoul voiced her concern, and Kaneki agreed without much thought.

"You aren't going to take my food, woman!" Kaneki growled at Ruby, like a territorial animal protecting its meal. Ruby slowly crawled backwards from Kaneki, terror being inflicted within her.

"K-Kaneki please! What's wrong with you!? Snap out of it!" The half-ghoul pleaded to him, tears slowly filling her eyes. "Hide isn't food either one of us, so please stop acting like this!"

"It's his hunger." A teenage voice called from behind Kaneki, making him turn to see who it was.

"Touka!" Ruby cried, seeing the raven-haired girl stand her ground in front of the senseless Kaneki, wearing a brown coat.

"He hasn't eaten since the day we've met. His instincts are taking over his thoughts, and I'll advice you stand back Ruby. This is about to get messy."

"More? No! **NONE OF YOU ARE TAKING MY FOOD!"** Kaneki's let out a blood-curling cry as his Rinkaku Kagune shot out from his back, ready to strike at the opposition he faced.

"Kaneki, don't let it go on like this! If you really do this you'll be regretting this!" Ruby pleaded to the starving and insane ghoul, as his Kagune prepared to strike against Touka.

"Get back Ruby, I didn't want it to come to this…" Touka's eyes turned red as she let loose her coat.

"I'll try to go easy on you, but I can't promise anything!" A sea of flames jetted out of Touka's back, her Ukaku Kagune ready to neutralise Kaneki's hunger.

"Kaneki… Please…" Ruby muttered as she saw the two lunge at each other. The exhaustion she had suffered before finally took its toll, and Ruby felt her vision fade as a sea of darkness engulfed her.

* * *

 _End_

 _ **I've Rewritten this so that the flow of dialogue makes more sense, and paragraphing cause it's hard to read chunks of texts.**_

 _ **Ozpin does not reveal to Ruby he knows she's a ghoul.**_


	7. Chapter 6: Now, the hunt begins

**Chapter 6**

 **== Now, the hunt begins ==**

 ** _Format. Stop. Breaking. Omg._**

* * *

"Red like roses…"  
Ruby found herself standing by a snowy Cliffside. A stone altar was seated by the cliff, with rose emblem engraved on it.

"Fills my dreams…"

The cold freezing winds breezed past the half-ghoul, her cloak flapping furiously within the chill.

"Takes me to…"

Red streak began to wisp from the ground, changing the colour of the snow from an icy white to a crimson red.

"The place you rest."

The change of colour eventually spread towards Ruby, engulfing the ground she stood on into bloodied snow.

This dream, it was familiar to her. She would dream of standing by her mother's tombstone, situated in a snowy forest by the Cliffside. Ruby would mourn in silence as she stared at the grave, remembering the dear mother she had for the majority of her childhood. Summer Rose was what Ruby considered the best parent ever. Her delicious cookies were the best things that one could ever taste, with all the love and dedication she put in being shown by the delicious taste of the treats. Her death took a hardship on her entire family, with Ruby, Yang and her father feeling lost in the moment.

" _ **She's dead. Get over it."**_ A familiar voice called to the half-ghoul, not an inch of sympathy in his tone. _**"Weakness claims those who fall for it, and you are being really pathetic to be mourning such a lost cause."**_

"What do you even know of my mother…?" Ruby responded to the rude voice without even moving her head in the slightest. "She always fed me, played with me and took care of me. Who are you anyway?" The half-ghoul questioned the person behind the voice, her fists clenching themselves in mild irritation.

The tombstone before her suddenly cracked, alarming the huntress. More cracks formed on it until the tombstone shattered open, releasing a beam of crimson light that shone into Ruby's eyes. She covered her right eye with her hand in time, but the left one was exposed to the magnificent but concerning glow.

As the light faded away, a man with red spiked hair, a red jacket over a black shirt that had black lines marked on it and black jeans with red lines flowing through. It was the person that Ruby encountered that changed her life forever. Razor.

" _ **I'm your best friend, little red riding hood."**_ The voice mocked, strolling towards Ruby. _**"I'm the guy who well, let you escape that weakness."**_

"You aren't real, you can't be. Your organs are supposed to be inside of me." Ruby stated without hesitation, denying the fact that the ghoul was right in front of her. _**"What do you think I am? A ghost?"**_ Razor put his right index finger on Ruby's check as he traced it up towards her left eye. _**"You know exactly what I am, Ruby. I don't believe I need to state this again, do I?"**_ The hallucination now placed his right palm onto Ruby's left eye. Immediately Ruby's eye started to sting, and she smacked Razor's arm away in retaliation. "You… You are me." The huntress stated as she reopened her left eye with the pain fading away.

Her left eye had transformed. It now glowed a crimson red as the pupil became blood red and the sclera of the eye turned black. The Kakugan, the eye of a ghoul, was present within the Huntress.

" _ **Well you sure are smart for a child."**_ Razor mocked, chuckling at the fact that the half-ghoul before him was not an idiot. _**"But I have this little thing now. How are you taking my appearance so well? You don't mean to tell me that I'm just a hallucination?"**_

"You are, Razor." Ruby retorted as her hands now balled into fists. "You tried to kill me, and even then I tried to keep you clean."

" _ **And this is what I call the innocence of youth, ladies and gentlemen!"**_ The ghoul turned his back to Ruby as he bowed towards a fake audience as if he was onstage. _**"It's ever so weak it makes my mind go mad, you know. I can never understand how worms like you are able to even aspire to become hunters and huntresses! It's all so foolish!"**_

"It's because we want to protect the ones we love, and keep everyone that would ever hurt us away!" Ruby shouted at the hallucination as her temper suddenly reached boiling point. "You'll never understand it!"

" _ **Of course I don't understand it you little red weakling!"**_ Razor retorted, a smirk on his face despite the harsh tone he was shouting with. _**"You think I even have an inch of sympathy for anyone? I'm dead for your freaking information."**_

"Then why are you still haunting me then? Go to wherever you're supposed to go after you die!"

" _ **I'm already in hell, I'm just a hallucination. Did you not get the memo?"**_ Razor spoke back with the voice being reduced to a calm but venomous tone, his words contrasting the statements he said earlier. _**"Mister Hallucination here just wants to tell you that everyone around you is going to die, get it? They are going to be slaughtered with their heads decapitated much like your pathetic mother over here."**_ The ghoul gestured to the shards of rock where Summer's tombstone was supposed to be at, chuckling at how it was reduced to such a state.

"I'll protect everyone around me then. They aren't going to die! I won't let you kill them!" Ruby yelled at the chuckling hallucination as the kicked the snow by his feet in amusement. _**"I'm sorry but it's not me that's killing them. It's going to be your best friend."**_ A white light suddenly engulfed Razor, with his body slowly but surely melting within it. _**"They are going to just be reduced to flesh and bones! Ashes to ashes as they say!"**_ Ruby stood back as the ghoul's figure was reduced to nothing but molten slag, his once pride features faded by the light.

" _ **And there's nothing you can do to stop it."**_ Razor's voice echoed throughout the Cliffside as darkness began to claim Ruby's vision. _**"Good luck. HAHAHAHAHAAAAAAA…!"**_ His voice could still be heard despite Ruby's sight decreasing to nothing but black, the manic laughter all but gave Ruby a scar within her. Razor's threats cut deep into Ruby's heart, the morale she had before now bled like an open wound.

* * *

"AAAAAHHHHHH!" Ruby screamed as she awoke from her dream. The events that happened there really put her on her toes. She found herself in the dark area of the meeting room, with a small blanket covering her frail body.

"Ruby! What's wrong!?" A concerned voice said as Ruby quickly panned to see who it was coming from. Yang was by the door , with the light shining from outside. "What happened? Are you okay?" Her sister asked, a concern face over her features. "I-It's nothing really, it's just a bad dream. Nothing much." Ruby quickly assured her sister, but the concern from her face never faded.

"You've been unconscious for the whole day. It's evening now." Yang stated as Ruby got up from her bed. She recalled the events that led her to this situation. They were following the hazelnut haired guy, then he kicked Hide and her… then Kaneki saved them but then he lost his senses, and the last thing she saw was Touka and Kaneki…

"W-Where's Hide and Kaneki!?" Ruby quickly asked as she remembered clearly what happened. Kaneki tried to eat Hide in a fit of extreme hunger, and Ruby wanted to know exactly what happened. "Follow me. I'll show you." Yang replied, as she gestured her sister to follow.

"Oh my… Hide!" Ruby followed Yang through the corridors to the room her blonde friend was located. Yang opened the door to the room where Ruby saw Hide bandaged up on the bed. "He's okay… Thank goodness." Ruby made a sigh of relief. Hide was still alive, and knowing that he was made the half-ghoul huntress calm down from major concern. "Before you ask, your other friend already woke up. The manager invited him to join Anteiku and now he's busy with him learning how to brew coffee." Yang stated.

"That's wonderful!" Ruby jumped in joy knowing how everything turned out. Everyone was okay, and Kaneki joined Anteiku! Now they could both work here as buddies, serving coffee and maybe having a coffee competition similar to the one the two sisters had. "I'm glad your fine yourself. I got here immediately when Yoshimura called me. I was so worried for you Ruby, don't ever do that again!" Yang grabbed and hugged Ruby with much strength, showing her sisterly love in Ruby struggling to find air. "Y-Y-Yang, too… tight!" She muffled out, notifying Yang and making her release her wounded sister. "Oh sorry Rubes, got a little carried away there…"

"You always hug me like that!" Ruby yelled back at her sister, stating the fact. "Eh, that's what sisters do." Yang replied with a smirk on her face, making Ruby stare back in childish annoyance. "I'm gonna go check on Kaneki on your behalf Ruby. Don't do anything stupid while I'm one floor below!" Ruby pouted at Yang's nonchalant tease, as the blonde sister made her way down the corridor.

Ruby looked back at Hide's room, taking a long glance at him. He was Kaneki's best and only friend, and the events that turned Kaneki into a half-ghoul had substantial consequences on his peers. The least Ruby could do was open the blinds of the room. She wasn't afraid of the dark herself, she just didn't like it. Ruby walked to the curtains and pulled the string that opens the blinds, releasing white moonlight into the room. The half-ghoul looked outside to see the dimly lit streets outside of Anteiku, with barely any people walking by. Ruby glanced into the moon as she found herself charmed by its appearance. The shattered moon of Remnant was quite a symbolic figure itself, a sign of what conflict could do to this world.

" _This world of humans, ghouls and grimm... It just keeps getting worse and worse."_ Ruby told herself out loud as she had her gaze upon the shattered moon. _"My dream of humans and ghouls coexisting in a harmonious world, I really hope it does come true."_ The half-ghoul huntress silently made a wish, hoping that fate would be kind upon her, and make it come true one day. "I wish humans and ghouls can live together happily." Ruby wished, putting her two hands together. "I really wish that one day we will be united to stand against our true enemy, the Grimm."

Ruby looked back at Hide's lying figure, and smiled. Things would get better, and they would live happier lives with each other. "You've been Kaneki's only friend until I came along." Ruby muttered to the resting blonde on the bed. "Thanks for being a great friend to him, and also thanks for matchmaking us." The half-ghoul giggled as she remembered how she met them, the childish act of the blonde sealed the fates of them together. Who would have thought that would happen?

"Bye, Hide." Ruby exited and closed the door on her way out of the room. With that done and out, the half-ghoul pondered on what she could do now. _"Oh I know! I'll go see how Kaneki's doing with his coffee. I bet it sure is tasty!"_ Ruby made up her mind as she strolled towards the corridor.

* * *

Three figures stood at the top of a building, all wearing grey coats in the rainy weather that stormed.

"It's the rain lovely?" A man with grey hair and a hunched figure commented. "You know, precipitation does dull their senses."

"So this would be the perfect weather to work in?" A teenage girl with a long side ponytail said.

"Exactly!" Kureo Mado exclaimed. "It's no wonder you topped the program, Weiss. Only the best get to hang out with investigators such as us you know."

"Thanks, but remember I'm here to help you with an investigation, I'm not going to become a full-fledged dove."

"But of course. The heiress of the Schnee has dedicated her life to becoming a huntress, and I'm sure nothing's going to change your mind now, is it?"

"Nope." The Ice Queen replied, getting a chuckle from Mado in return.

Weiss Schnee was the best student in the Investigator Assistance Program, which took the course of three days within Beacon Academy. Of the two hundred students who applied, there were only three did the best with Weiss being one of them. As a reward, the three were offered to venture to Vale as junior investigators. Weiss wasn't too keen on the topic, but accepted it anyway. The CCG needed all the help they could get in their war against the ghouls, and The Ice Queen herself wanted to offer some retribution to the foul degenerates.

"According to the 20th ward's branch report, there was a predatory incident involving a binge eater in this building three months ago. What's interesting is that eyewitnesses claim to have seen Jason and a red figure in this area as well." Kotarou Amon stated as he stood watch by a railing. "A Binge eater and Jason?" Weiss asked. "What could two S-Rated ghouls be doing here, and who was the red guy?"

"Well, it's hard to say. But I'm sure the three of them weren't co-ordinarily sharing a meal." Kureo Mado replied. Immediately, the old dove suddenly reacted. His eyes twitched as he looked back and forth for the source. "What is it?" Amon questioned his mentor. "Is there something on?" Weiss asked as well. Kureo quickly jumped off the railing and dashed on some big square metal platforms.

"Mister Mado!" The two of them shouted in concern at the mentor's rash actions. Their concern quickly faded when the mentor quickly picked up and held up an object for both of them to see. "Weiss was right! This weather is working in our favour!" Amon and Weiss looked up in satisfaction. Their mentor had found a lead to go on in the 20th ward. "The only downside to this rain really." Mado began, grinning in amusement of his thought. "We aren't able to hear the screams of death they will cry! Hahaha!"

Weiss smiled at her mentor's enthusiasm. She was willing to kill some ghouls herself. The Ice queen had killed hundreds of Grimm before during her time at Beacon, especially during the rigorous entrance exam she faced before with her team. Ghouls were going to be no different from Grimm, monsters who kill people.

"Come, let's get back to the CCG. I'm sure this will get them to let us patrol the 20th ward." Kureo said, eyeing the object he had picked up. It was medical equipment, sort of like a wrench. He wasn't an expert in biology but he could at least infer that it had something to do with limbs. "Jason must've used this to tear out people's limbs. I'm sure he wouldn't mind if we did the same to him."

Weiss looked around as the two other doves were busy examining their find. There was still one aspect left unanswered: The red figure. The most probably scenario Weiss could picture was the Binge Eater and Jason having a confrontation, but for what purpose? From what she was briefed on, Jason usually worked alone. He had one grunt to rely on, but he usually didn't travel with him to places like this. Weiss thought deeply for a few moments as she inferred how the confrontation possibly turned out.

" _Binge Eater was busy eating, and then Jason shows up. He probably tried to attack her but failed as the only bodies found were the corpses…"_ Weiss paused her train of thought when she thought of the bodies of the deceased. Only lowly ghouls would ever eat that. _"Maybe Jason's attack was foiled by the red figure… so then he probably has some good relations with the Binge Eater. No evidence to confirm it though…"_

The temporary junior investigator looked around the area. It was only the rooftop mechanisms that inhabited the area, the metal fans spinning around to cool the interior of the Aqua Building, and large generators that ran down long rows. There was nothing to go on, and a simple Ghoul Medical apparatus wasn't enough to satisfy Weiss.

Sighing, Weiss walked towards one of the generators and learned on it. It had a cool steel feeling despite being well, a generator. She glanced around the area when suddenly a red mark caught her eye. It was a symbol of sorts, some sort of red marking on one of the generators across the one she leaned on. Curious, Weiss made her way towards the marked generator to see what it was. Blood didn't last this long before drying out, so what was the mark?

As Weiss got closer to it, she could make out the mark much clearer than before. It was a stripe of red ink, with two black marks on it, giving it the look of a blindfold of sorts. "Hey guys, I found something!" Weiss called out to the doves. Kureo and Amon made their way to Weiss's location and saw from themselves the familiar marking. "Kureo, isn't that…?" Amon began, as the mark became more familiar to him.

"Yes… I know this marking." Kureo said, as one of his eyes squinted to allow his other eye to take a good look at it. "It's one of the marks we were briefed on before. The mark of the Betrayer… I wonder what he's doing here though?" Kureo questioned, having only been told that the ghoul worked in another part of Remnant." I thought he only hunted around in the Mistral region."

"Whatever he is, at least we found a new lead." Amon stated. "Good work Weiss. Now this will be sure to give us a good lead on the ghouls in the 20th ward." He commended the junior detective. Weiss mildly blushed as she was commended by the senior investigator. "I-It's nothing really." She replied.

"You should really be an investigator dear." Mado stated. "You'll be sure to enjoy killing ghouls as much as I and I'm sure you can defend your father's legacy by becoming an investigator rather than a huntress."

"Hmm." Weiss thought about the offer. She truly did want to defend her father's name and company, since she was going to be its heiress. Ghouls have always harassed the Schnee Dust Company, always infiltrating their transportations on both Train and Air travel. The White Fang also did so too, but she couldn't really kill fanus now could she? "I'll consider it, but know that my ideals always lie to my name." Weiss answered.

"I hope make your decision with haste, young lady. The ghouls of your ward are getting more restless by the day, and it's our job to deal with them." Amon stated. "Remember, you'll never know who could be a ghoul. What if your teammates happen to be one?"

"Nonsense! My teammates can never be ghouls. I've seen them eat regular food, especially one who enjoys cookies so much." Weiss retorted, irritated by the senior investigator. "Though… Ghouls are not limited to just humans right? Fanus could also be ghouls too right?"

"You're not wrong. Fanus can be ghouls too. There's a renowned bull ghoul fanus that had plagued the 14th ward before, but he was taken down long ago. He was one of the commanding generals for the White Fang too, as we found out." Amon explained. "Most nicknamed him The Jeff of the ward."

"Ugh, Ghouls in the White Fang as well?" Weiss said annoyed by this new concept. What was worse than fanus and ghouls attacking your family's company for ages on end? The both of them combined, as White Fang executives. "Sigh. Ghouls just make me so mad."

The three of them looked up to the sky to see the dark evening night, with Remnant's broken moon shining brightly down onto the city of Vale. "It's getting late. You should return to your Academy Weiss." Amon said. "We thank you for your assistance in this investigation."

"You're welcome. Goodbye." Weiss stated as she began to walk away from the two doves.

"You know, she'd really be useful in the CCG." Mado said. "Such a young little girl defending such a large company, really makes you wonder if there are more youngsters like them too."

"I know. If the heiress of Schnee began fighting back, I'm sure the company won't be raided as much." Mado replied. "She's really determined. I hope she does join us."

* * *

The two huntress sisters walked back to Beacon Academy from its entrance, the older one heaving in a big yawn. The younger one saw the action, and she yawned along with herself. Yang and Ruby were both really bummed out by the events that happened. Ruby's friend along with herself were attacked by that Nishki Ghoul, with Kaneki going insane from food withdrawl, and Yang rushing over to Ruby once she got the memo of what happened. All in all, Ruby should be the one heaving the big yawn, not her sister. The half-ghoul was pierced through the chest by that Hazelnut haired ghoul…

Ruby touched her chest, feeling the big hole in her stomach not even being there. The regenerative properties of her Ghoul traits had benefits it seems, and Ruby sighed in relief. She didn't want to return to her dorm with her insides visible, with the thought of her teammates reacting to it and possibly freaking out making her giggle. She couldn't let them know, for she was sure they wouldn't be so accepting as her big sister was. The elder sister in question stretched her arms and forearms, while yawning at the same time. She sure was taking this whole ghoul thing very lightly for some reason. Ruby didn't want to question it though, being happy that she wasn't even yelled at after being discovered.

"Man, how do you put up with eating human flesh though?" Yang asked as she started a conversation between the two sisters. "It personally makes me sick, and that Kaneki guy sure didn't like eating it either. What's your secret sis?"

"H-Honestly I'm not that okay with it myself…" Ruby replied, twiddling her thumbs. "But I guess life just makes things happen to you. You'll never know what the next day will turn out, and that next day sure didn't bat an eye, right?" Ruby pointed to her left eye, the one that had the kakugan within. Yang chuckled at Ruby's attempt at making a pun, and the younger huntress hoped that she would say it's a good one. "Heh, lame pun." Ruby hope was demoted into a childish frown. "Leave it to the experts, Ruby!"

Sighing, Ruby took out one of her Red-Hued cookies and took a little bite out of it. "So that is human flesh, right?" Yang questioned as she eyed the cookies, with Ruby slowly nodding in agreement. "Yeah really how do you even get through with eating that? I'd like to try one but… it's flesh, so nope."

"I try not to think about it. The cookie look really helps too." The half-ghoul explained as she took another bite out of it. "There was this guy called Yomo that worked in Anteiku, and Yoshimura said that he invented these cookies. He quit before I joined though, so it really is a bummer I couldn't meet the maker of the ingenious delicacies!" Ruby raised her packet of cookies to Yang's face, which the blonde looked at in mild disgust.

"Now that I think about it, which I don't like to, yeah it is kind gruesome. But the same can be said to chilli dogs and the burgers you eat ever so often now, honestly." Ruby described, making her sister think back into her delicious burgers. "Flesh isn't… that bad to me though. I am a ghoul so I can't say for you, but maybe you could try one?" Ruby offered, with Yang raising an eyebrow. "Try it once for me, like how so easily you've accepted my condition."

Yang put her hand to her chin for a moment to think of how exactly she could deny her sister. "I'm sorry sis but I can't eat that. It's cannibalism you know, and honestly that's-" Her speech was cut off by the cute adorably big and wide eyes her sister gave her, with a sad sniff to contemplate the look. Ruby was giving Yang the cute-look, and nobody could resist it, even if it was you needing to eat some guy's flesh. "I-I-I…" Yang tried to deny her sister, for eating flesh for her was wrong on so many different levels, but the irresistible and unbelievably _huggable_ look Ruby was giving her made her unable to reject her cute sister.

"I… Fine fine I'll try it, but I won't like it! It's disgusting on like ten levels you know…" Yang gave into Ruby's offer, with the half-ghoul rejoicing in the air. Handing the elder sister one of her red-hued cookies, Yang held it arm's length away. "This is… ugh. Can I not eat this? It's disgusting on like twenty levels now."

"But Yaaaaaaaaang, you agreed! You are a lady of your word, are you not?" Ruby teased her sister, making her frown in regret. With an extremely heavy and regretful sigh, Yang broke a piece of the surprisingly crunchy cookie, and tossed it into her mouth.

"Sooooooooo Yang, how'd it taste?" Ruby asked. The half-ghoul herself was honestly expecting her sister to turn green and immediately spit it out, but her sister did something completely else. After somehow being able to resist the urge of thinking about exactly _what_ she was eating, she gulped the cookie after it had been on her tongue for a good ten seconds. "You wanna know how I feel?" Yang began, making Ruby look at her with both her big eyes in curiosity and mild disbelief.

"I feel that the maker of this cookie really _really_ could work as a ghoul baker in the future. This cookie tasted nothing like puke, it tasted just like bacon!" The half-ghoul's jaw dropped as she heard her sister say that. All in all Ruby just wanted to see the face of her sister puking as a little innocent prank, but in the end Yang actually could tolerate eating human flesh, let alone say it was _acceptable._ **"What."** was all the half-ghoul could muster up as a comment. "Are you serious?"

"Nope. Excuse me as I vomit my guts out." Yang began spat wildly around as she tried to get her taste buds to go neutral, wiping her tongue with her hands. "…Eww…?" Now Ruby was just confused. Exactly what was her sister doing just now if she was spitting it out here?

"Don't ever remind me of this." Yang stated as she cleaned her hands from a tissue in her pocket. "In all seriousness though, other than the fact that I could now be considered a cannibal, that cookie really tasted just like bacon, without any salt. You know how much I love bacon with salt, right?"

"Hmm. Okay then I'm glad you well, um… liked it?" Awkward as she sounded, Ruby was at least glad her sister was so accepting. _"If only the others could be this accepting of my condition. Yang's only doing this cause she's my sister, so Weiss and Blake may not take this well at all…"_

"Well let's get back to our dorm. My back still hurts." Yang said, with Ruby nodding in agreement.

* * *

The two sisters got back to their dorm as Yang immediately jumped onto her comfy bed. "Ahh, sweet sweet bed. How much I missed you."

"Where have you two been?" Weiss asked, irritating at the late timing the sisters returned at. "It's ten'o'clock, really really late. Where did you go, and why are you still wearing that eyepatch?" Weiss's questions pushed on with Ruby muttering in attempt to form an explanation.

"Whoa chill Ice Queen, chill." Yang said in attempt to calm the irate heiress down. "We just had to deal with some stuff at the coffee shop, no biggie."

"Coffee shop? You mean Anteiku? What is with you all and Anteiku anyway? All of a sudden after Ruby got into her little accident you two suddenly decide to work there. What's the deal?" Weiss questioned the elder sister, with Ruby looking at the argument, gulping a little. "Was the coffee shop involved in Ruby's accident or something, such as saving Ruby's life?"

"Um, actually…" Ruby began, nervous on how to explain the situation. "T-They did save me in a way… Anteiku u-um… called the Ambulance to where I was at, so they kinda um, did save me." The half-ghoul hoped this would be enough to sate Weiss's questions. She really didn't want her to find out about what truly happened. "Since then, I was invited to work in the shop and I agreed to it. Yang joined in to look after how I worked there."

"Y-Yeah! Ruby's never worked a part-time job before, so why not I teach her the ropes?" Yang added in, making Weiss raise an eyebrow at the whole ordeal. "So you're telling me that you've decided to work part-time as gratitude for them saving you, and that's what you're gonna be doing for the rest of the free days we're having?"

"E-Exactly Weiss! See you're so smart, I knew you'll figure it out!" Ruby quickly reassured. "How's your investigation thingy going on anyway? I heard you've become a junior detective, like Harrison Jones!" The half-ghoul quickly changed the subject before Weiss could peer into the whole Anteiku business.

"Firstly, It's Sherlock Homes. Harrison Jones is a Duststone character you dolt." Weiss began, with Ruby raising her lips in curiosity of the new knowledge and also being relieved that Weiss went on with Ruby's change of topics. "Secondly, I'm a junior investigator and not a detective. I'm one of those people working in the CCG that hunts ghouls you know." Yang and Ruby were shocked at this revelation. Weiss actually became a ghoul investigator!? "But I thought you didn't want to be an investigator!" Yang called out, concerned for her sister. "No I don't. It's called junior for a reason, and I'm just helping them investigate the Binge Eater incident that happened some time ago." The two sister quickly sighed in relief upon hearing the full explanation.

"Third, Sherlock Homes is a detective and not an investigator. I really hope he was one in the past though. Who knows how many ghouls he could have put down?"

"U-Um, so yeah. Nice jobs we all have eh? One question though, where's Blake? She's been missing for the entire day now." Yang said, pointing over the empty bed the cat fanus used to sleep. "That is something we should be concerned about… I'm too tired to care about it right now." Weiss replied. "Blake's been moody lately anyway, all into her Egg of Black Sheep or whatever it's called. She'll be back to normal tomorrow and I'm sure she'll be sleeping here once we wake up."

"If you say so, Miss Queen of Ice." Yang said, making Weiss simply sigh in return. "Let's all hit the sack. It's been a long day for all of us hasn't it."

"Couldn't agree more sis."

"I suppose so. Goodnight."

* * *

The next day, the two sisters walked up the stairs to their workplace. There they saw a blonde boy talking with a raven-haired girl and a black-haired boy with an eyepatch by the counter as they entered the shop.

"So then I said, would you like prefer me over a book?" Hide asked, as they noticed the two sisters enter the shop. "Hey, Ruby! Who's the hot chick behind you?" The blonde boy changed subject as he noticed Ruby and Yang. Kaneki raised an eyebrow at the choice of words his friend chose to describe the newcomer.

"That's my sister, Yang. She's working here with me now since the… yeah." Ruby replied. "Hello everyone! My name's Yang Xiao Long and I'm sure to make this place burn to the ground!" Yang said, enthusiastically pumping her fist in the air. Hide chuckled at the joke as other two staff of Anteiku deadpanned at her statement. "Well there's someone else who isn't as down as the ground! I'm Nagachika Hideyoshi, but that's a mouthful, so call me Hide!" The blonde introduced to the fellow blonde, as they both shook hands.

"I'm glad the both of you are okay after the accident. Good thing Touka found us in time, am I right?" Hide said, with the two half-ghouls looking confused. Their confusion turned into an act when Touka quickly elbowed Ruby and kicked Kaneki. "Yeah! I guess they both haven't recovered fully yet." Touka replied, as Ruby and Kaneki rubbed their sore spots.

"It's a good thing too. One moment too late and I couldn't be sitting here right now. Nishki's at the hospital unfortunately, and I gotta go take my leave now." Hide took out his green raincoat as he wore it to prepare for a storm brewing outside. "I'll see you guys later, Bye!"

"Bye, come again!" "See you later." "Bye Hide!" "I'll be sure to _hide_ from you later. See ya!" Touka, Kaneki, Ruby and Yang said as the blonde left the store, with Yang chuckling at her own pun. The other three deadpanned at the pun, with Ruby face-palming as well. "What? Too good to pass up?"

"I have to warn you. Don't let Hide know you're ghouls." Touka stated. Ruby and Kaneki nodded as Yang just nonchalantly took a seat by one of the tables. "Of course, Even I won't let him know." Yang replied, positioning herself comfortably on her chair. "Neither of us will." Kaneki added.

"If he does find out, I'm not holding back. I'll kill him." Upon hearing this statement, the other three immediately reacted to this statement with Kaneki spilling a coffee in shock and Ruby putting her hands to her mouth. "B-But Hide's our friend! We can't kill him!" Ruby responded in shock. "Yeah. You even let me live, and by now I should be a criminal for withholding ghoul information." Yang added in.

"I'm not letting another person find out about us. I can't take that chance anymore, and even I debated to myself whether to kill you or not." Touka stated, implying her last sentence to the blonde. "You know you can't kill me one on one. I can't cut through you but I can still punch the living daylights outta ya!" Yang retorted, standing from her seat and walking towards the ghoul waitress, the both of them tensed up in this situation. "I'm here to protect Ruby, this I swear. If you're gonna kill me you'd better have a good reason."

"Guys, guys!" Ruby shouted as she shoved the both of them aside to cool off the conflict before it begun. "I don't want us to fight over this! Hide's not going to die even if he finds out! He's Kaneki's best friend since childhood and would he really turn him in to the CCG?"

Touka just grunted in annoyance as she walked back to the counter. "I… Do not want to take that risk." She muttered as she looked at the coffee mugs by the counter. "I can't take that chance. I just can't."

"Don't worry Touka. Hide's not the kind of person to tell on people." Ruby reassured, putting her hand on Touka's shoulder. "Friends are there for each other, and if you had a human friend, would he or she really betray you after all the happy times you've been through?" The half-ghoul's words made the raven-haired ghoul enter a deep thought. _"Yoriko…"_

"Even my team has had some problems in the past, especially with our friend finding out one of us was a fanus." Ruby explained. "She ran away when she revealed she was one and we spent twelve whole hours searching for her but we eventually got our team back together, so don't be so pessimistic. Not everyone will call out ghouls, especially if they've had a good history in the past."

Touka looked back up after contemplating what Ruby said. She did have some good points, and Touka silently wished that if she was caught by her best friend, she would understand. "Maybe your right. Thanks for the encouragement."

The four waiters got to their places, with Touka by the entrance podium and Ruby and Kaneki at the counter. Yang returned to her seat however, wanting to relax in the good ole Coffee Shop. The blonde looked outside the windows to see a storm kicking off, rain droplets falling from the sky. "What a relaxing weather to be sleeping in." She muttered.

The doors to Anteiku opened, and Touka immediately responded to it with politeness. "Hi! How can I help you!" She greeted, before seeing who the ones by the door were.

"Hello, Touka." A brown haired woman greeted, with a young striking similar girl standing behind. The woman had a side ponytail with three flowers adorning it, and she wore a pale pastel dress tied to the waist that was braided with an orange belt, along with a pale yellow sweater and a red scarf. "Ryouko!" Touka was shocked at seeing the familiar face, quickly ordering the other waiters to get towels. "Ruby, Kaneki, get some towels quick!"

"On it!" The two of them replied as they rushed upstairs to get towels. Yang however just continued to sit at her seat, waving at the newcomers. The half-ghouls quickly returned with several towels, with Touka quickly handing a piece to Ryouko, the mother wiping the hair of her daughter to dry. "I didn't want to trouble you…" The mother said. "Don't be silly. You're welcome here." Touka replied.

"Give me a new towel, quick!" Touka commanded, with Kaneki handing one over while being startled by her sudden shout. "Thank you very much." Ryouko said to the kind waiter, as she received the towel from him, handing the used one back. The half-ghoul waiter panned down to see her daughter looking at him, and Kaneki smiled in return. She looked back down however, giving Kaneki a confused face.

"Where's Yoshimura?" Ryouko asked, with Touka pointed to the door by the counter. "He's inside." The waitress replied. Ruby couldn't help but notice the cute girl by the mother's side. "Hello there." Ruby walked over and greeted the daughter, as she looked at the half-ghoul huntress. "I'm Ruby, what's yours?"

"H-Hinami." She said. Ruby extended her hand out to the daughter. "It's nice to meet you." She said as Hinami hesitantly extended her hand out. They shook hands, with a big cheerful grin on Ruby's face, and a little sincere smile on the daughter's.

The two newcomers went up to Yoshimura's quarters, and the trio looked at each other with concern. Yang was still chilling at her table, however. "They're ghouls, aren't they…" Kaneki muttered up. "That's Mrs. Fueguchi and her daughter. We're gonna be looking after them from now on." Touka replied as she tossed a used tower to Kaneki, who stumbled to catch it. "It's probably a long story how they got here, huh." Yang commented, earning a nod from the raven-haired waitress. "Why don't you tell us how they got here?" Kaneki muttered, hoping to know more of them. Touka slammed a tray onto the counter in irritation. This guy here just asks too many questions.

"You're getting on my last nerve. You can't do anything right you know?" The raven-haired girl retorted. "I'm well aware." The half-ghoul replied.

Touka sighed as she cleaned the tray she had on her. "Whatever. So did the manager have a talk with you about the box carriers?" She asked the others. "The who?" Kaneki innocently muttered up, earning another sigh from Touka. "I think she means the doves." Ruby whispered to him, making Kaneki even more confused. "Doves? Who are they?" Yang walked up from her seat to answer his question. "She means Investigators." Kaneki still didn't understand this at all. "What are Investigators?"

With her patience long gone from the idiot's constant questioning, Touka yelled back at Kaneki. "Did he or did he not talk about you about the guys in suits with overly large briefcases!?"

* * *

Weiss paid close attention to the briefing she was invited to, with Mado and Amon sitting by her sides. This was her first time being invited to such a place, and the heiress had to keep her image up. She looked at the representative giving a summary on the holographic screen with a coloured map being shown behind him.

"This map shows the current status of the eleventh ward." The representative said, as Weiss gave her fullest attention. "As you can see they are demonstrating organised movement. I'd hate to say it, but I think it'll be a matter of time before we have a war on our hands."

The heiress quickly took down the note on her scroll, with Mado chuckling at the girl's dedication in her efforts. "Well that's all I've got. I don't suppose there's someone else with something to report." The representative stated. Seeing the opportunity, Weiss raised her hand up high for him to see.

With his attention caught, Weiss stood up from her seat as she began to introduce herself. "Weiss Schnee, Junior detective under the Ghoul Investigation programme." She began. _"Keep cool Weiss, you got this. Just say whatever evidence we collected at the Aqua Building and state it with confidence and inspiration."_ She told herself. This was her first time being here, not to mention sharing the evidence they collected, and the first impression was everything for the heiress.

"I'm sure everyone remembers the incident involving the well-known Jason and an S-Rated Binge Eater from the 20th ward." Weiss stated, breathing in and out to keep her cool. "A rusted tool was left behind at the crime scene." The screen behind the representative showed a rusty wrench-like apparatus, as he pondered over the tool. "And may I ask what that is?" He replied.

"W-We believe it's a ghoul medical apparatus, and though it may not look like much." The heiress paused to take a deep breath to shake off the nervousness she felt. "It may not look like much… b-but after analysis, we found it's made of Quinque steel."

"Is that so?" The representative replied. Now Weiss began to think about what she should say. She stated the facts but what was she going to say next…? Fortunately for her, Amon noticed her sudden pause, and quickly raised his hand to have a turn to speak. The heiress noticed it, and quickly ended her statement. "That is all. Thank you." Weiss ended, before sitting down and allowing the more experienced investigator to take over.

"Kotarou Amon, First class detective in charge of the Junior Detective here." He introduced. "There was also a symbol found at the site, it being the mark of the ghoul known as The Betrayer." The screen showed the red marking, with two black spots to make it look like a sort of blindfold. "Interesting. The Betrayer in the 20th ward as well…" The representative thought out loud.

"While Jason's and The Betrayer's objective is currently unknown, there is one fact that we do know. Ever since the encounter with the S-Rated Binge Eater, all occurrences of Binge Predation have suddenly ceased." Amon ended off, returning to his seat. "It sounds like somethings stirring up in the 20th ward. I see why you were the head of your class at the academy detective." The representative commented. "And also you, Junior Detective. You've got a good partner on your hands, so you should feel proud of yourself." Weiss smiled in happiness at being complimented by the representative. This was going better than she expected. "You even are lucky to have Mado on your side, am I right? Now you've got a lot of time to play around with your toys."

"Yeah Yeah, I'm so lucky." Kureo Mado nonchalantly replied. "I don't mean to be rude but could we please wrap this up? I have better things to do with my time."

"Heh, I'll kick you out if you weren't such a brilliant investigator." The representative joked. "Alright. Mado, Amon and Weiss. You three are in charge of the 20th ward. Understood?"

"Yes Sir!" Weiss and Amon replied. Kureo just sat by his seat, tapping his fingers on his briefcase in boredom.

"I find it unsettling that the ghouls of this once quiet ward are suddenly becoming more active. I can't help but think it's a harbinger of things to come." The representative stated to the occupants of the meeting. "But we cannot lose sight of our purpose here in CCG! It's our sworn duty to get rid of every last ghoul in Remnant. No matter what trials we face in the future, that will always be our top priority! So let's get focused and get to it."

"Yes Sir!" All the occupants of the meeting replied.

"Alright, this meeting is adjourned. Dismissed!"

"Thanks for saving my image, Amon." Weiss thanked as they along with Mado walked through the corridor of the CCG Headquarters. "It's nothing really." He replied smoothly. Weiss blushed a little at the cool demeanour he had. Amon was unwavering, dedicated and handsome to add to it.

"Thanks to the two of you, we're free to investigate the 20th ward." Kureo stated with a devilish grin on his face.

"Indeed. Unfortunately the marking, and this." Amon replied as he raised up the rusted wrench-like object sealed within plastic. "Are our only leads."

"It's enough." Mado replied, raising his hand to his face. "You see, we've caught one end of the thread already."

"All we should have to do is root the ghouls out." Weiss stated for the mentor in his stead. "And I'm sure it wouldn't be long before we reach the end of it."

The grey-haired investigator chuckled at the girl's statements. "Oh you take the words right out of my mouth, dear. The 20th ward will be ours to roam." He said, complementing the junior investigator. "You know, even if you decide to become a huntress, eventually you might get a good enough reputation to excel beyond others."

"Oh really? Thanks!" Weiss thanked sincerely. Within her mind though, she was secretly scheming to herself. _"This is great! Soon with the CCG on my side. I will gain the allegiance of the doves. With them to back me up, I'll become unstoppable when I finally conquer Remnant! BWAH HAH HAH!"_ The heiress evilly schemed to herself as she thought of the possible future to come. "Is there something going on, Weiss?" Amon asked, looking at her with confusion. Why was she looking like a mad scientist you would see in kids movies?

"Oh? It's nothing." Weiss replied as she snapped out of her trance, however she quickly returned to it as she left it, scheming once more within herself. _"The Binge Eater, Jason, The Betrayer and the Gourment! It'll be fun watching them run before us! We'll be unstoppable...! MUAHAHAHAHAAAAAA~ "_ The two white-haired investigators unknowingly chuckled together in union, simply making Amon raise an eyebrow at his colleagues.

" _It's going to be fun with these two."_ The first class investigator  & Supervisor of the Junior Detective thought to himself. The journey ahead had just begun.

* * *

 _End_

 _Next chapter i'm posting is the **FINAL**_ _chapter I have pre-written. After that, I'm out of content. After my examinations I'm gonna return to writing, so I hope you'll bear the wait._

 _If I suddenly go on Hiatus even after my examinations, then i'm sorry._


	8. Chapter 7: Tension Rising

**Chapter 7**

== **Tension Rising ==**

 **This chapter took 5 days to write. Writers block is real.**

* * *

"Give it a try." The manager of his establishment said as Touka and Yang served Kaneki and Ruby two plates of food.

The two half-ghouls looked at the plates of sandwiches on the table. They looked at each other in caution as they stared at the seemingly delicious food. Two slices of bread bunched up with some lettuce, tomatoes, and a thin slice of regular pork meat; of course anyone would be delighted to have such a great sandwich. Ruby and Kaneki however, simply stared at the treats in hesitation.

"Excuse me Manager, but I don't think I can eat this." Ruby said as she picked up one of the sandwiches. Kaneki nodded as well, pointing out that they were well, ghouls. "Come on sis, don't be so scared. Here, I'll try one for you!" Yang picked up a sandwich from the table and quickly took a big bite out of it. "See, delicious!" Yang said, speaking with her mouth open as she chewed the sandwich. The half-ghouls simply gave a blank stare at the blonde's attempt at humour, and Touka chuckled to herself while leaning on a wall.

Yoshimura gave a hearty chuckle at Yang's teases. "Oh, don't worry. This is a lesson on how to live life as a ghoul, and I'm sure the two of you would want to go undetected by your peers, right?" The manager picked up a sandwich and held it over his mouth. "Watch closely."

Yoshimura took a bite out of the sandwich. The two half-ghouls were startled by the manager's lack of reaction, seeing him happily chew and swallow the bread without much haste. "Whew, what do you think?" He asked towards Ruby and Kaneki.

"You looked like you really enjoyed the sandwich…" Kaneki replied, utterly surprised at his boss.

"Now you try it. I'm sure you two can handle it, can you?" Yoshimura replied, gesturing to the plates before them.

"O-Okay…" Kaneki reached out to the sandwich and hesitantly held it over his mouth, while Ruby and the rest watched. She decided to wait for him to try it, and looked around to the other two girls in the room. Touka was grinning at Kaneki's attempt while Yang was still happily eating her sandwich. _"If Yang can eat the sandwich, wouldn't Kaneki be able to do so too?"_ She thought without realising that she'd forgotten an important factor.

Kaneki quickly took a bite out of the sandwich, and immediately felt like he had intoxicated a rusted pipe. The half-ghoul quickly dashed to the side and puked out the continents of the sandwich, along with some of his digestive fluids. Ruby and Yang felt their stomachs curl looking at the scene, with the former much less motivated to attempt it herself.

"I'm sorry manager; I can't eat this at all!" Kaneki cried out in disgust. What came to his mind was the complete description of how the food tasted like. "The bread takes like a mouldy sponge that'd gone stale for months, and the texture of the salad just feels like withered leaves! The pork tastes like clay left to dry out on a hot Sunday, and the cheese…!"

"There's no cheese in the patty…!" Yang called out of nowhere, earning her several confused looks. Ruby however knew what Yang tried to imply. "Oh, I know what you're referencing! It's that sponge-"

"Please don't remind me…!" Kaneki groaned from the side, coughing out what remained of the sandwich. Yang simply shrugged and pat Kaneki in the back. "There there, little eyepatch. You'll grow up to able to eat it on your own soon!" The blonde teased. The nickname she gave him made Ruby touch her left eye, and realised she had forgotten to wear her own. The huntress simply shrugged, however. She'd get one later, somewhere…

Yoshimura snickered to all the humorous actions that happened before him. "Oh, if only you could see the ridiculous look on your face." He said. Touka got up from leading on the wall to adding in her own comments. "One would normally yell out 'it's awful.' Wouldn't they?"

"Now it's your turn, Ruby. Want to give your thoughts on how the bread tastes?" Yoshimura gestured to the remaining sandwich on the plate. Ruby looked at the sandwich, unsure what to do about it. Would she really try to eat the sandwich? _"Maybe there's a method in doing this."_ She pondered, thinking back to the first time she came to Anteiku. The cookie crumb she tasted really made her feel sick, so what could she do in order to not taste it?

" _Taste…"_

Ruby's face suddenly lit up as she was struck by realisation. There really was a method of eating! "I think I got it, let me try!" She said. The half-ghoul cautiously but quickly bit into the sandwich, and before her tongue to make contact with the bread, she quickly swallowed the piece whole into her stomach.

A few seconds of silence ticked by, with Yang and Touka expecting the same reaction as the other half-ghoul. Their expectations weren't met however, when Ruby smiled at everyone in accomplishment. "It tastes just like cookies!" She joked. Touka raised an eyebrow while Yang felt her jaw hang loose. "What."The blonde muttered.

"Well done Ruby!" Yoshimura congratulated. "You've managed to figure out how to eat human food without feeling the taste."

"Wait, what? How did she eat that!?" Kaneki was dumbstruck by the method Ruby used to eat the sandwich. "I don't understand anymore…"

"Ruby. Why don't you explain to your fellow co-worker how you did it?" The manager said, getting the huntress to explain her methods.

"Well…" Ruby began. "I just swallowed it instantly before it could touch my tongue. That's all!"

Kaneki's eyes widened at this revelation, making a mental note in his brain. "Quite right, Ruby." Yoshimura commented at her explanation. "But you can make it more believable. Just make around ten chewing sounds with your mouth after gulping the food down, and others should believe the act."

"I'm a genius." Ruby proudly spoke. Yang and Touka slow-clapped for the half-ghoul, being amused by her self-praise. "Way to go Ruby, an inventor in the making. First Crescent Rose, now inventing ghoul eating methods. What a prodigy!" Yang sarcastically blurted. Ruby pouted at her elder sister, but the mention of her weapon made Ruby remember something she had to do.

"Mister Yoshimura! May I make a request?" Ruby asked the manager as she grabbed Crescent Rose that was strapped to her side. "What do you need, Ruby?" The manager replied.

"You know that my weapon's blade was dented upon trying to attack the Nishki guy." She explained, stepping back to unfold her weapon to Scythe mode. Ruby wielded the weapon, firmly grasping it so that it would not take up much room. "May I get something that could well, make sure I can defend against attacking ghouls?"

Yoshimura examined the dented blade, his eyes squinting to see the mechanisms involved. Kaneki was taken aback by the weapon the huntress had. That thing was huge! "T-This is a weapon the students at your school use?" He asked. "Of course! This called Crescent Rose, A Customizable high-Impact sniper rifle fitted with a thin steel blade. A Sniper-Scythe, if you will."

"Um… Okay." Kaneki replied, a drop of sweat running down his forehead.

"The only thing that can effectively wound a ghoul is a Kagune" Yoshimura explained. "Other methods such as shooting or cutting a ghoul with normal materials won't work. Your weapon can't harm them one bit."

"I'm well aware…" Ruby began, looking down in disappointment. "I tried to use it to defend against Nishki when we first met at the alleyway, but the blade literally dented on contact with his skin!"

"I think I can get Yomo to help you with this." The manager suggested "Ah, speaking of which. Would the two of you mind staying back late tonight? I have a request for the two of you." Yoshimura asked to Ruby and Kaneki, with them nodding in response. "Sure." They both replied

"Good, but before you do that I have a present for your hard work at Anteiku." Yoshimura lifted up a bottle of brown sugar cubes for everyone to see.

"Oh, I've seen these!" Ruby said, recalling the first time she arrived here. "Those were the sugar cubes I requested from Touka! They sure are good at curing hunger."

The manager smiled at Ruby. "Oh, you sure are a smart young lady." He said while chuckling. The positivity the optimistic student of Beacon radiated out of her really could brighten up anyone's day. "Take one for yourself, Kaneki. Indeed they are good at sating hunger."

The black-haired waiter picked up a brown sugar cube and looked at it in awe. "Wow. These must be really good. What are they made of?" Kaneki inquired, holding a small cube between his two fingers.

"It's best you don't know." Yoshimura replied. His answer however, made Ruby more curious than ever. "Why not? They managed to cure my hunger when I put them into my coffee when I… first…" The huntress suddenly realised what her train of thought concluded at, and decided not to finish her sentence. This had the side effect of making Kaneki a little uneasy staring at his sugar cube.

"It's impossible to survive solely on these cubes, however. When the time comes, remember that you're going to need to eat as we do to live." Yoshimura warned. Kaneki and Ruby just looked down to the floor as they thought about his words. _"When the time comes…"_

The half-ghouls thoughts were broken as the manager began to speak. "Alright you two, stay with me. Yang, Touka, your free to go now." Yoshimura said.

"Alright Ruby, I guess I'll get back to Beacon. Thanks, manager. The blonde said to the two of them, and quickly grinned as she turned to the other two. Eyepatch and emo girl, I'll see you later!" Yang nonchalantly called out, the latter growling at the nickname she was addressed.

"I'm gonna study." Touka muttered. The two girls made their way out of the room, leaving the two Half-ghouls for Yoshimura to address.

The manager waited for the two to leave before he addressed to the two of them what he requested. "Normally Touka would do this job, but she has to study for an upcoming examination."

"I'd like you two to go food shopping in her place."

The two half-ghouls became visibly shocked at his sentence. "F-Food shopping…!?" The two repeated in uneasiness. "We're not going to kill anyone!" Kaneki cried out, as they both had thoughts of the possible gruesome scenes they would have to partake in. "I couldn't even harm a fly…" Ruby muttered.

"Don't worry you two, nobody's going to die." Yoshimura reassured. "As you know, Anteiku is a peaceful organisation to help our brethren who are unable to hunt for themselves. You've probably already met Ryouko and her daughter, as examples."

"Oh, we've met them! The mother and her daughter Hinami, Is that why they were doing here?" Ruby inquired, with the manager nodding as confirmation.

"But if we're not hurting anyone then how…" Kaneki pondered out loud.

"Go see Yomo. I've sent the message to pick you up, and you'll find out how we get food." Yoshimura explained. "I'm glad the two of you are helping in Touka's stead. Thank you."

"No problem! I see my weapon improved from him too. One question though, whose Yomo?" Ruby asked. The name was being used very frequently, so who was the guy anyway?

"I believe you can find that out for yourself as well." Yoshimura replied with a gentle smile.

* * *

The Night of Vale is best described as a bustling yet peaceful city. The virtual street screens lighting up the place, the many shops running despite the time and the beautiful dark sky that most would stare at once in a while to simply relax. Very peaceful yet very popular this city was indeed.

However, within the darkness comes opportunity to the outcasts of society, the ones who must consume others in order to survive, whether or not they enjoy it. Ghouls often attack stray civilians who are foolish enough to wander into any enclosed area such as an alleyway, and are brutally feasted upon due to their lack of vigilance. Due to these sites being the safest place to hunt, ghouls often claim territories for where they shall eat, killing poor saps that venture into their traps. But of course, there isn't only one ghoul in the entire world, and others have to eat as well in order to survive. The ghouls could be compared to wild animals, and their territories really, claiming feeding grounds from ghouls unable to fight back.

These feeding grounds used to have been marked by the usual predators, with others ghouls complying with it. There wasn't only one alleyway in the city anyway. Recent times however, show us the displeasure of ghouls unable to hunt.

"I'm so starved. Shit." A stomach growled from a hooded man with a beanie complained to himself. "Rize's violence… That bitch took all of our prey." He staggered through the alleyway hoping to find any sort of possible dinner for him. He truly needed to eat soon, lest he go crazy from starvation.

His salvation appeared before him, much to the man's pleasure. A young lady with white hair strolled through the alleyway, wearing a white dress and a side ponytail donned with a tiara-looking headpiece. "Wish for it and it shall be granted." The man muttered. His instincts quickly took over his actions, his eyes changing into black sclera with red irises. "Easy prey, easy gain!" he cried, as he leapt high into the air to strike at the woman. His food had finally come to him!

With a quick action, Weiss drew out a grey rapier and sliced at the oncoming threat, a blood red aura pulsing from the blade. The ghoul suddenly felt a limb short, with an entire arm being detached from the counterattack. He cried in agony as he realised what happened, falling onto the ground with blood quickly gushing from his limb, or the lack thereof.

"You degenerates know nothing but killing, not even noticing an obvious trap." The heiress spoke to the ghoul attacker as he coughed out piles of blood. "I'd thought you'd know better than to attack an innocent young woman. It's a pity how lowly all of you are."

"N-No… It can't be….!?" The ghoul spluttered out in pain. He was facing someone whom he'd never thought he'd face.

"Article 12, Clause 1 of the Anti-Ghoul Act. Weiss began. "A species which special precautions should be taken against, known as ghouls, which are distinctly identified by their ability to produce Kakugan and Kagune." The heiress recited the law that the CCG had put in place to the pitiful ghoul that lost an arm. "Same article, Clause 2. In relation to the target group distinguished as ghouls, there are no laws which protect these individuals."

"But maybe I'll spare you if you tell me what this is." Weiss pulled out a plastic bag, with a rusted plier within. "Do you happen to know who this belongs to?" She asked toward the pitiful ghoul, pointing to the bag she held.

"W-What…?"

"I said, do you know who owns this primitive tool!?" The heiress yelled towards the agonizing ghoul. "Better speak up now lest you regret it."

"I-I don't know what that is…! Please! I swear!"

"He's useless to us, Weiss." An old man walked to the interrogating heiress. "Monsters like him don't know anything but to kill. Maybe we should do the world a favour, and end him before anyone else gets hurt." Mado implied the meaning of his sentence to the heiress, who looked back to him.

"But, is it acceptable to end him…?" Weiss inquired to her mentor. She had only killed monsters before, them being the Grimm. The heiress had never killed a human being before, and the opportunity to do so right now made her uneasy.

"They're monsters, just like grimm. Let him live and one of your loved ones could die." Mado replied, creating more unsureness onto Weiss. "If you don't have the gut despite all you've been thought, then at least let me kill this one myself."

Weiss panned back and forth in confusion, and thought long and hard about the matter. _"If he lives, he'll continue killing innocent people. But I can't kill a person…"_

"L-Let me live… Please! I'll go vegetarian, I'll only hunt the weak, old and sick! I won't hunt innocent anymore!" The wounded ghoul begged, whining in last resort. He didn't want to die at all, it seemed.

The contrasting words the ghoul said made Weiss furious. "The weak, old and sick **ARE** innocent!" She shouted in anger. This guy didn't deserve to live anymore, his intelligence level really making the heiress pissed off. Weiss stood back from the ghoul and turned to Kureo, the old man's eyes having a look of bloodlust. "I'm not ready." The heiress admitted. "But we both know he's ready." She pointed at the desperate ghoul before turning her back to him. "Do what you please."

"With pleasure." The old man pressed a button on his briefcase, unleashing his Quinque for all to see, and the ghoul to go pale. Shouting in delight, Mado swung his weapon up into the air.

"NO NO NO NO N-"

* * *

Kaneki stood by the pillar of an overhead bridge while browsing through his scroll, an extra medical eyepatch in other hand despite already wearing one himself. He was waiting there for Yomo to pick him up to go food shopping _. "I wonder what kind of guy he's like."_ Kaneki pondered. He must have been a well-known associate of Anteiku, as he'd heard his name being said by both Touka and Yoshimura before. _"I guess he must be a nice guy to be working with Anteiku."_

"Hey, Kaneki!" A voice called out to him. The half-ghoul turned to the voice to see a young girl with a new red hoodie worn over her usual combat skirt. Ruby was running to him with her weapon idle by her side, waving vividly to the fellow half-ghoul.

"Hello, Ruby. What's with the rush?" Kaneki asked as Ruby stopped next to him to gain her breath.

"Oh, it's nothing." The huntress replied. "Did you get an eyepatch for me?"

"Sure did. Here you go" Kaneki handed over the object he was holding to Ruby, and the huntress quickly strapped it over her left eye. He couldn't help but notice they looked very similar, with him wearing a blue hoodie with Ruby wearing a red one, not to mention the similar eyepatches they now wore.

"You wear that eyepatch because you can't control your eye, right Kaneki?" Ruby asked as she leaned on the same pillar Kaneki did. "I can't either in a way. If it goes red, I can't seem to return it to normal no matter how hard I try."

"Yeah. It goes red when I get hungry." Kaneki explained.

Eventually the two saw a black car drive and stop at them. The door opened to reveal a tall well-built man with silver hair that wore a grey long overcoat, and a stone-cold like glare that made the two half-ghouls flinch.

"Um, excuse me. Are you mister Yomo?" Ruby asked the mysterious man nervously. She was met with no reply however, as the man continued glaring at the two of them. "I'm guessing he is, Ruby." Kaneki whispered to her ear

The two half-ghouls simply looked back nervously, as the mysterious man spoke with a gruff voice for the first time. "Enter, now."

Ruby and Kaneki obliged, and hastily got into the car. "I'm guessing he is mister Yomo…" Kaneki whispered to his friend, who was just as tensed up as he was. Yomo began to drive through the city and the two half-ghouls couldn't help but look outside at the scenery of Vale. Ruby often was not in the city at these late hours, so she didn't really have a good idea of what the city was like when the sun had set. The trip was very silent, as both Ruby and Kaneki were rather scared of the white-haired man driving the car.

"U-Um, this a pretty nice car mister Yomo." Ruby muttered as she mustered the courage to start a conversation. "Is this your car?"

The driver didn't even flinch at her words, continuing to drive through the city with a stone-cold view on the road. "Hehe… I'm guess it is then…" Ruby said, a drop of sweat running down her forehead. "He really is scary, isn't he…" She whispered to Kaneki.

"Y-Yeah…" He replied. Kaneki didn't have much opinion on the situation, other than sharing the scary feeling that Ruby had. "So... Ruby. Let's talk about your team."

"What about them?"

"I don't really know much about your team, and you've been mentioning it here and there just like how the people at Anteiku have talked about Yomo." The person in question looked back at them for a moment, receiving nervous looks back from Kaneki. "N-Not that's it bad or anything, mister." Kaneki reassured. Yomo returned his glance to the road as Kaneki sighed in relief.

"Well, I guess I haven't been talking about my team in detail…" Ruby said. "I guess I'll tell you all about them now!"

The huntress cleared her throat, breathed in for a few moments and adjusted her seating position, as she prepared to elaborate about her best friends at Beacon.

"First off, my team's called RWBY. It's R, W, B, Y, and it's pronounced Ruby, my name!" Ruby explained her background to her fellow half-ghoul as he listened attentively. She went on about how they first met, with her exploding in Weiss's face. "Weiss is… kinda um prideful, but once you melt her Ice Queen demeanour she can be a really great friend!"

"Then there's Blake. She's a rather mysterious type person who likes to keep to herself, but she's also a great friend too. She can be a little… touchy… on the subject on her background, but hey. If we're going to spend our next years in Beacon, we'd better know each other well!"

"Speaking of backgrounds..." Kaneki asked. "Is Yang the only other person who knows of what you are?"

"Yup." Ruby said with emphasis on the latter letter. "She's actually my sister, and a really great one too! Yang found out about my condition without too much commotion actually, and I'm surprised how well she's taking it. She also tends to hug me really tight too often."

Ruby went on and on talking about all her buddies at Beacon, especially the other team, JNPR. She described Jaune to be the vomit boy of the first semester, but is also a kind and protective guy at heart. Then she talked about Pyyrha and her helpful nature to train Jaune in being able to fend off and defend. Nora and Ren were also fun to elaborate; two very contrasting personalities yet get along very well.

Kaneki smiled at Ruby's happy life living in Beacon, but one point made him concerned for his fellow-half ghoul. "You have really great friends, but what if the others find out about your condition? Not everyone can be as understanding as your sister." He said. "Especially that Weiss friend you talked about."

"I guess that's true… Not everyone's my sister, right?" Ruby half-heartedly chuckled at her own remark. The fact that Ruby was still what people considered a monster remained and she feared being abandoned by everyone if the rest knew of her secret. However, she thought back to the time her team discovered Blake's heritage, and despite Weiss's flaring attitude at the discovery, they eventually settled back to the happy team they were. _"I hope that if they find out, it would be just like Blake's situation…"_

"We're here." The gruff voice of Yomo brought the huntress out of her thoughts, and the two half-ghouls exited the car. They found themselves parked by a roadside cliff, a very unsettling kind of place to be in at this time of the night, or maybe just in general.

Kaneki leaned on the metal railing at the edge of the cliff looking down at the trees below. "What are we doing here?" He asked Yomo, but to his annoyance the silver-haired man barely even glanced at his direction.

"Careful." Yomo spoke out of nowhere, confusing Kaneki. Was that supposed to be his answer?

"What do you mean by" Kaneki suddenly hear the sound of metal snapping, and soon found himself losing balance.

"It's broken."

"AAAAAAAAAAA" Kaneki cried in a panic as he fell from the high roadside cliff. "Kaneki!" Ruby shouted to him as she jumped off the Cliffside. Quickly unfolding her weapon, she pointed Crescent Rose towards the sky and fired, sending herself soaring to Kaneki at a very high speed. Ruby quickly grabbed Kaneki and hacked the dented by still usable blade of Crescent Rose onto the Cliffside to ease the momentum of their fall. It wasn't enough to completely halt them however, and the two tumbled onto the ground below, with Crescent Rose's blade still attached to the wall above.

"O-Ow… My back…" Ruby muttered, getting up from the ground. She dusted her clothing off before looking at the dazed figure of Kaneki. He had gotten up as well, but he remained seated as he looked at the forest's direction. "What are you looking at?" She questioned, before panning over to see the object Kaneki was staring at.

The two half-ghouls screamed in fright at the sight.

Yomo landed on the ground next to them upon hearing the cries of the half-ghouls. He dropped an empty camping bag next to Kaneki, and pointed to the object they were freaked out at.

"Put the corpse into the bag." He said nonchalantly, increasing the horror the two felt at the sight. A dead body, not even fully decayed yet, and they were going to stuff it into that bag?

"B-But…" Ruby didn't know what she got herself into. This was what the people at Anteiku shopped for? "I-I… We... s-shop for…!?"

"The ghouls of Anteiku shops for suicide victims…!?" Kaneki finished Ruby's sentence, the two still as scared as ever looking at the body.

As the two continued to be stoned at the sight, Yomo picked up the bad and walked over to the corpse. Dropping the bag, Yomo put his two palms together and stood in silence. Ruby and Kaneki looked at Yomo, unsure how to feel. He was paying respect to the lost soul.

Yomo stuffed the corpse into the bag, with the two half-ghouls deciding not to look at the inhumane action. "We do this so that we don't have to kill anyone to eat." He spoke. "I'm following Yoshimura's orders, to scavenge meat for Ryouko and her daughter. If not I would simply kill the next person I saw to eat."

"So… is this like, a vegetarian method for ghouls…?" Ruby asked. Yomo didn't look back to reply, but he muttered a sound to signify that it was true.

"Wow…"

* * *

Yomo drove the two half-ghouls back to their homes, as part of Yoshimura's request as well.

"Bye…" Ruby said, waving to Kaneki as he was dropped off at his home. This left the silver-haired man with the silver-eyed girl in the car, the drive to her Academy silent as ever. Ruby felt rather stiffened by the deed they had done, despite them not killing the person. Ghouls had to eat humans, but the methods to do so varied it seems. _"It's like… there are different types of ghouls in this world."_ She pondered. There were the ones who rarely hunted, only eating to not go insane. Ones who ate for luxury, as Ruby had heard from people talking about Rize, the Binge Eater. Not to mention ones who went to Anteiku, like Hinami and her mother.

Ruby looked at her scroll. It was very late, almost midnight actually, and her team should be worried for her. Yang should understand, but Blake and Weiss would be concerned. _"If Blake decides to not disappear again that is…"_

"Mister Yomo…" Ruby asked, attempting conversation once again with the gruff man. "May I know at least, is this your car?"

Silence followed, with Ruby's hope slowly fading. _"He's really scary…"_

"It's not."

The reply she got dimly but still brightened up Ruby's mood. Ruby took off her eyepatch, rubbing the left eye that was covered. She was not use to having depth perception lost, needing both eyes to hunt grimm effectively. Her weapon was a Sniper-Scythe, and having both eyes intact really helped in using it. _"Crescent Rose…"_

"Oh… Mister Yomo, may I make a request from you?" Ruby asked. "Can you help make my weapon be able to fend off ghouls?"

"Not today, maybe someday." He replied.

"Okay. I want it to be able to defend against ghouls with my weapon. I don't want my sister or anyone I love be harmed by this condition I'm in."

The mention of the word sister made Yomo recall a memory in the past, but he quickly brushed it aside. "I'll get someone who can fix it. Give it to Yoshimura when I'm ready."

"Oh!" Ruby beamed up as his statement. "Thank you."

The silver-haired man felt his lips curl upward, smiling.

* * *

" _You degenerates know nothing but killing."_

" _Let him live and one of your loved ones could die."_

" _There are no laws which protect these individuals."_

" _Do as you please."_

The memories of the ghoul encounter rang back and forth within Weiss's mind, as she walked back to her dorm in a rush. The investigation took longer than expected, and she was being haunted by the gruesomeness that occurred there. Her superior would freely kill an unarmed ghoul that was being interrogated, yet it was the norm for all the doves in the CCG. The heiress thought about how she got into this. Simply by being invited to the CCG after being one of the best in the program they made, and then subsequently brought along to interrogate ghouls of the possible location of the 20th ward's Jason.

" _I don't want to be a dove… but all this is making me turn out to be one in the end anyway…"_ Weiss thought to herself. She couldn't just drop out of Beacon and join the CCG, her friends would be sad at her leaving and her family would be much wearier of her. Enrolling into Beacon wasn't an easy task, with an image to maintain and a background to inherit, Weiss couldn't just stop being a huntress.

" _The petty degenerates of Ghouls and Fanus have always plagued my family's business. Maybe this is an opportunity to help give them what they deserve…"_

While Weiss was within her thoughts, she turned a corner and bumped right into Ruby.

"Weiss! What are you doing here?" Ruby said, startled by the heiress bumping into her.

"I could say the same for you, Ruby." Weiss replied, rolling her eyes. "I just had to attend some stuff with the investigators, nothing much."

"I thought you said you wanted to stay a huntress, so what's with the entire investigator a thing?"

"I am staying a huntress, you dolt! I'm just helping them fight off some foul ghouls, that's all." She retorted, folding her arms in annoyance. "I'm guessing you had to stay back with your coffee club house members too."

"Anteiku? Oh, yeah. I had to get some err… supplies for them. We're running short of coffee beans, you know?"

"I really need to see what's up with that shop. You and your sister are both working there often, you know."

"What can I say? It's a nice place to be at." Ruby replied. Suddenly, an idea came up to the huntress. "I know! How about tomorrow we all go to Anteiku to have a morning coffee! You haven't been there yourself, and I'm sure you'll like all the workers there."

"Hmm, I supposed it could be fun there." Weiss thought out loud. "There is one problem though, what about Blake? She hasn't been with us for a while."

"She's probably at her bed sleeping. Yang told me Blake spent the entire day at the library searching up stuff." Ruby looked around the hallway, and glanced at an open window revealing the night stars. "We'll talk about her tomorrow at Anteiku, how about that? I wanna get some shut-eye too."

"Yeah, we'll talk about it at Anteiku tomorrow."

The two walked down the hallway towards the direction of their dorm, with Ruby asking Weiss how her time with the doves was. Weiss only briefly described her experience with a handsome dedicated first-class investigator and an old creepy and brutal mentor of hers.

"Sounds like fun." Ruby mused.

* * *

The next day, Team RWBY sat down at the tables in Anteiku, each of them with a cup of coffee by them. Ruby took a sip of her mug and looked over to the rest of her team. Yang was busy looking over to Kaneki, giving him smug looks. Blake had her arm on the table supporting her head, with new book called Monochrome of Rainbows in her other hand, and Weiss was simply looking around the shop, examining the place. The calm, peaceful interior of the coffee shop allowed Weiss to relax in the place. Often times she had to keep up her image, but being in this cozy place with her friends allowed her to sit back and slack.

"It's no wonder you work here. This place is really relaxing!" Weiss commented. "The woodwork here is amazing and the peaceful aura really suits the mood. Why was I never invited here?"

"Um, because you had your dove program thingy?" Yang replied.

"Shush you."

Moments later, a black-haired boy with a medical eyepatch over his left eye walked up to the team. Clearing his throat, Kaneki began to take their order. "Would you like anything else?" He asked.

"No thanks, I'm good." Weiss replied. Yang and Blake shook their head while Ruby suggested some brown sugar cubes. Weiss looked at the waiter in suspicion. He wore the same eyepatch Ruby did nowadays, and was also a waiter for Anteiku… _"Is Ruby working at Anteiku because of…"_

Weiss's train of thought was rudely interrupted by Yang elbowing her and giggling. "Maybe it's true, Weiss. Maybe..." She said, as if she already knew what the heiress was thinking about. The heiress simply blushed lightly in reaction.

Kaneki dropped two sugar cubes into Ruby's cup of coffee, and went back to the counter. Ruby began to ask questions about Weiss's experience working with the CCG, both in curiosity and in concern.

"The Commission of Counter Ghoul is dedicated to wiping out ghouls in Vale, really. They're given special weapons that can successfully wound ghouls, since normally they're immune to sharp objects of regular weapons." Weiss explained. She brought out her rapier which looked more silvery than usual. "The CCG had my weapon fitted with custom-grade Quinque steel, a metal extracted from ghouls which allows us to attack them."

"Wow… You're having such a fun time at the CCG." Ruby commented. "What happens when you find a ghoul?"

"Well… this may come as a shock, but the standard protocol is to... to…" Weiss took a deep breath before continuing her grim explanation. "…Is to kill them."

"W-What…?" Ruby muttered in shock. "B-But aren't ghouls like, humans too?"

"Ghouls aren't humans! They're monsters who eat people to live, and just by living they harm the innocent citizens of Vale." Weiss harshly explained. "They've also harmed my family's name along with the White Fang… I'm happy to see those degenerates fall."

Blake made a face of disgust on hearing Weiss's latter sentence, but the heiress quickly put her hand onto Blake's shoulder however, to reassure an important fact. "Not that I would harm fanus that aren't plotting against us though, since they don't eat humans."

"I'm going back to Beacon." The fanus sighed under her breath. She slowly got up from her seat, but Weiss quickly stopped her from doing so. "Stop." She commanded.

"Lately you've been barely hanging out around any of us, being all moody and anti-social. All you've been doing is reading those books quietly which I get is kind of your thing. But you've been it way more than usual, and that frankly, is unacceptable!"

Touka looked over to the commotion happening at Team RWBY, and eyed at the girl in white as she continued to fuss at her teammate. Ruby kept silent through it while Yang made a small comment. "Say hello to Blake, Weiss!"

"Shush." Weiss turned to Yang before looking back at Blake. "You made a promise to me, and to all of us, that you'd let us know if something was wrong! So tell me, Blake Belladonna."

Weiss suddenly jumped up to the table and pointed her index finger at Blake's face. "What is wrong!?"

All of Anteiku looked at the heiress with an eyebrow raised. Ruby and Yang looked at them with an expression one could read on their faces as _"What."_ Touka chuckled at the humorous pose the heiress was in and Yoshimura simply smiled. Kaneki dropped a cup of coffee in bewilderment, which alerted the heiress as to what she was doing. Weiss quickly hopped down and returned to her seat, attempting to act natural from the random action she did. _"Why did I do that again…?"_

"I just… I don't know how everyone is so calm, with all of you turning to different places to work at…"

"You still thinking about Torchwick?" Ruby asked.

"Torchwick, the White Fang, all of it! Something big is happening and no one is doing anything about it!"

"Don't you remember? Ozpin told us not to worry. Between the police and the Huntsmen, I'm sure they can handle it. Heck maybe even the CCG could assist." Yang reassured.

"Well I'm not! They don't know the White Fang like I do!"

Weiss sighed at Blake's arrogance "Okay, between blowing up nightclubs, stopping thieves, and fighting for freedom, I'm sure the three of you think that you're all ready to go out and apprehend these ne'er-do-wells!" She said. Ruby asked what the term she used was, but was ignored by the ranting heiress. "Let me once again be the voice of reason. We're students! We're not ready to handle this sort of situation!"

"Well yeah, but..." Ruby tried to correct.

"We're not ready!" Weiss restated her point.

"And we may never be ready!" Blake continued from Weiss's point. "Our enemies aren't just going to sit around and wait for graduation day." Blake pointed towards the exit of Anteiku to make her point. "They're out there, somewhere, planning their next move, and none of us know what it is. But they're coming, whether we're ready or not!"

The room became silent as Blake ended her rant. The coffee shop's occupants looked in concern at the team arguing among themselves. Ruby raised her hand up high to break the tensional silence spurring in the air.

"Okay, guys… All in favor of becoming the youngest Huntresses to single-handedly taking down a corrupt organization conspiring against the Kingdom of Vale...!" Ruby proclaimed as she stood up from her seat. "Say aye."

Yang pumped her fist up to the air in enthusiasm. "Yes! I love it when you're feisty."

Weiss folded her arms and nodded along. "I supposed it could be fun."

Blake smiled in agreement. "Of course, we're in this together."

Ruby cheered alongside her team as they regained their morale. There was one thing that she was a little upset about, with the whole promise speech Weiss gave to Blake. _"I still can't let Weiss know about the truth of Anteiku. She'd freak out especially since she's with the CCG a lot."_ Ruby told herself. She disliked being such a hypocrite, but this was a secret she had to keep for their own good.

An elderly man walked up to the four huntresses in training. "Haha, what great friends you have, Ruby." He commented, getting their attention.

"Yeah, so this is my team. I'm sure they're nice, right?"

"Indeed so." Yoshimura agreed. He turned to the girl in white and asked a question. "May I ask what your name is though? Your friend Blake has been here before, but you're a new sight."

Weiss cleared her throat before explaining herself. "I'm Weiss Schnee, heiress of the Schnee name and junior investigator of the CCG."

The latter description of her caught the attention of Touka, which eyed the heiress wearily. One of Ruby's friends was a dove? Yoshimura had no outstanding reaction to her title however, and he merely chuckled along. "Such a young age and you're so ambitious. The world needs more people like you to fend off against them, do you agree?"

"Of course. The Grimm is already one big problem, and the ghouls just make it worse." Weiss agreed, folding her arms. A shrill beeping sound came from the heiress's scroll, and she opened it to find a message from an investigator.

*NEW* Message from Amon: "If you're free, come down to the CCG office. We're going to do more interrogation and we'd like you to come along."

"Hmm, I've got a new appointment with the doves. I'll catch you later guys." Weiss said, standing up from her seat. "We can plan how we'll deal with Blake's problem tonight, alright? Goodbye." The heiress walked over to the exit and quickly made her leave.

"Bye Weiss!" Ruby called out while waving to her as she left. The three students were left sitting by the table, looking at their coffees. Blake then stood up and told her friends. "I'm guessing this is where I leave as well. We'll discuss the plans tonight, yes?"

Ruby and Yang nodded as Blake made her way out, leaving the two Anteiku workers at their seats. "Well, I guess our break's over. Time to get to work." Yang said. Ruby followed suit muttering about how they didn't even start work yet.

The sisters got into their work uniforms and made their rounds, along with Ruby putting on her eyepatch. Brewing coffee and serving other people as the time went by. The huntress found herself enjoying the work, having a great time taking other people's orders. She found that she had a knack for interacting with customers, with compliments given to her saying that she's very polite. Yang on the other hand found herself a little too frank with the customers, oftentimes giving the impression that she's very loud-mouthed and rude. Thus she tends to be the one to make the coffee, as her sister still could not make delicious coffee.

In a way, the sisters worked well together supporting each other's flaws. Ruby would serve the coffee that Yang made, easily working well together.

"So… a mask?" Kaneki repeated.

"Indeed. I think it's a good idea you have one." The manager explained. The conversation caught the attention of Ruby, who walked up to the two of them. "Whatcha talkin' about?" She asked.

"Ah, Ruby. Just in time. I think it's time for the two of you to get your masks." Yoshimura said. "Ooh! I want a mask too!" Yang overheard as she slung her shoulders over Kaneki and Ruby, hugging the two of them tightly.

"Y-Yang… can't… breathe…!"

"T-Too… Tight…!"

"Whoops." Yang released the two half-ghouls from her grasp. "Eye-patches don't take hugs well it seems."

Yoshimura called to Touka and explained what he needed her to do; to get a mask for Ruby and Kaneki. Touka frowned instantly upon hearing his request. "B-But tomorrow's my one day off! The last person I'd like to spend it with is this loser." She sneered to Kaneki.

"U-Um, I'm getting a mask too and I think we'll get lost trying to get to the mask shop…" Ruby added in. Yoshimura nodded to Touka for her, implying that it was his concern as well.

Touka was annoyed at the whole request. "I understand your concerns, but I don't think you're ready to have a mask yet." She explained.

Yoshimura's face took a serious look as he explained his reasons for the request. "Touka, there are three doves rampaging in the 20th ward. I believe it's for the best they get their masks done as soon as possible."

The raven-haired girl folded her arms and sighed. "Fine." She turned to Kaneki and Ruby and gave a frightening stare at the two of them. **"Two-Thirty at the Vale Train station. Be late and I'll kill you."**

"Yes, Touka!" The two half-ghouls agreed in union, with shivers running up their spines.

Yang whispered into the manager's ear, and Yoshimura then turned to Touka again. "Yang would also be joining you, if you don't mind." He explained.

Touka sighed once again and returned to serving customers.

" _Sigh. What kind of masks are they even getting?"_

* * *

 _End_

 _Also I have no idea what masks Ruby and Yang should get._

 _Thanks to everyone whose been following this story for so long._

 _I'm forced to go on a 2 week ish hiatus due to moar exaiminations. I will return, fret not. Byes~_


	9. Chapter 8: Appealing Masks

**== Appealing Masks, Distasteful Ghouls. ==**

 ** _I'm back yay. Writer's block is conquered now time to_ write.**

 ** _The new cover was made in Paint, by the way. Yup, I have great photoshop skills._**

* * *

"It's already three… Where's Touka at?" Kaneki murmured to himself as he gazed at his watch. He had arrived at the station early at around 2:15pm, as to try to not make Touka pissed, but as it stood now it was him waiting for Touka to show up.

"Oh don't worry. She'll be here soon." Ruby was also waiting with Kaneki, having arrived exactly at 2:30. The two of them wore their usual outfits, Kaneki with his light blue jacket and Ruby with her regular outfit. They also wore matching medical eyepatches to go.

"Yang wanted to have a small talk with her, so they should be here a little late."

"But not thirty minutes late… I was expectin- Ouch!" As Kaneki was speaking, he was dealt with a hard kick to the back, sending him forward.

"What was tha- Oh it's just you." Kaneki said as he looked at the raven-haired girl. Touka had a blank look as she stared at the two half-ghouls.

"Um, Hi." Ruby muttered. "Where's Yang?"

"Right behind you."

"Gaaaaah…!"

Ruby was startled by her sister suddenly appearing behind her, sending her backwards.

"Woah, Yang! Where'd you come from?" Ruby questioned.

"Somewhere, that's where!" Yang jokingly replied. Ruby simply raised an eyebrow and shrugged it off.

"Yang's only here to look after Ruby. Let's go." Touka stated while walking away. The remaining three followed suit, the huntresses eager to see how it would turn out. Kaneki wasn't as enthusiastic however, and simply looked down the whole way.

The journey to the mask shop was relatively calm and quiet, with Touka going down several alleyways and slums. During the path Kaneki couldn't help but notice how 'normal' Touka looked. One wouldn't even bat an eye at such a person being a ghoul. Ruby and her sister however, stood out much more with the outstanding colours the girls wore, but nevertheless they wouldn't be suspected to be ghouls either.

" _Well, there is only one um… human here."_ Kaneki thought to himself. He himself was surprised at how accepting Yang was at all of this, and he could bet she might even _be willing to become a half-ghoul_ just to make sure her sister is safe. He shrugged the thought off when he heard Ruby ask a question out loud.

"Touka, how long we gonna walk?" Ruby asked. To no avail however, Touka didn't respond in the slightest.

"What ward is this anyway?" Kaneki muttered out, not wanting the fellow half-ghoul to be the only one talking.

"Oh, this is the 14th ward. I've been here before, but this isn't really the greatest place. I'd much rather be in the 19th ward where my regular bar's at."

"Is it the one where you punched the owner through the building?" Ruby asked.

"Indeed. I'm thinking of visiting him soon actually…"

Eventually the four of them ended outside a creepy looking door with a logo next to it, reading HyS ArtMask Studio. Touka entered the door and called out for the owner of the establishment.

"We're here Uta!" She called out as she walked into the room. The other three looked around the interior. It was a mask shop with many different masks being hung up on the walls and on several black Mannequins.

"Geez, where is the guy…" Touka muttered as she looked around. Ruby and Kaneki felt creeped out as they saw the various masks in the shop. Most of them resembled demons, monsters or eldritch horrors of the past. One mask Ruby couldn't take her gaze off, a simple black full-mask with a red rose on it.

Yang was the only one unfazed by the masks, and instead took quite a liking to them.

"Cool mask shop. I wonder how my mask will be!" The blonde said casually.

"Um, I think it's only us that are getting masks, Yang." Kaneki

"Aww, can't a girl dream?" She replied.

"Don't worry Yang, I'll try to convince the owner to get you a mask as well!" Ruby said taking her gaze off the rose mask. Yang smiled back in glee hoping that she would indeed get a mask.

While the two sisters were having a fun time looking at all the various masks, Kaneki's attention was caught by a white cover presumably over another Mannequin. Wondering what it was, Kaneki pulled off it's cover.

"Boo."

The voice alone made Kaneki jump back in shock as the object underneath the cover was revealed. It was a black haired man styled into an undercut, with several piercing around his face and ears. His eyes were ghoulish with their Red Iris and Black Sclera and he wore a simple Black shirt over a grey undershirt along with grey pants.

"What are you trying to pull off there Uta?" Touka said as she turned to face the source of the commotion. Ruby and Yang also turned their heads, with the latter laughing heartedly at Kaneki's jump.

"Nothing really, just tried my hand at scaring people." He replied.

"This is Uta. He'll be making the two of you masks." Touka explained as the owner took a seat on a stool, the other three standing around.

"I thought it was gonna be three?" Yang asked.

Uta didn't even bother noticing Yang, as he was much more interested in the young boy with an eyepatch before him.

"I-I'm Kaneki… nice to meet you…?" Kaneki felt uncomfortable as Uta began to sniff him, and the boy could feel drops of sweat forming on his head.

"Your scent is pretty unique you know, as with the other girl." He described as he glanced towards Ruby. "Matching eyepatches too."

"My name's Ruby by the way. Nice to meet you too!"

"Anyway…" Uta continued. "You're here cause of the doves in your ward right?"

"Yeah. These guys are newcomers to Anteiku, and Yoshimura wants their masks done soon." Touka explained.

"Isn't it rather weird though? The 20th ward isn't the most active area, and yet they send the investigators here." At this moment Kaneki tried to step back from Uta, but the ghoul tugged his shirt back to where he stood. "I'd assume this must all be Rize's fault."

"Rize…?" Kaneki muttered out in curiosity.

"Hmm…" Kaneki mumbled. "Excuse me but is the 20th ward supposed to be a safe place?" He asked Uta.

"The 20th ward's normally a rather docile area, but with Rize's appearance she makes the doves show up as well. She's definitely the worst, isn't she?" Uta explained. "You're so lucky to have a place like Anteiku. If it wouldn't be for that shop I would assume the Blonde would be dead by now."

"Hey! I'm just here to protect my sister, nothing else." Yang retorted, irritated by the ghoul.

"I'm just stating the truth. What would your dear sister be doing if not for the coffee shop?" Uta stated. Yang was about to retaliate once more, but stopped herself as she thought about the facts. It was in fact, quite true, and perhaps without Anteiku's help, Ruby might've succumbed to her instincts and be gutted down by the CCG. The thought alone had to make Yang shake her head to try to remove an image she would never want to see.

"If you were to be in a much more aggressive ward, say the 2nd. You'd might even find some Cannibalism go down." Uta said as his gaze on the half-ghouls became sharper and sharper, causing Ruby and Kaneki to step back in fear.

"But enough of that. Take a seat on that chair and I'll take your measurements for your masks." The shop owner pointed to a chair at the centre of the room as he stood up from his seat.

Kaneki and Uta walked to the chair, leaving Ruby, Yang and Touka to look around the shop. The blonde of the trio couldn't help but try on a Beowolf-like mask by the walls, and proceeded to playfully terrorise her younger sister. Touka simply strolled about the shop aimlessly while glancing at a Nevermore mask.

"First things first." Uta began as he took up a drawing pad "Any allergies related to Metal or Leather?"

"I don't think so…"

"Full-face or Half-mask?"

"Anything that works."

"Hmm… actually I think a half-mask should do."

"Alright then…"

"What about the eyepatch? It looks rather cute on you. Want to include it?"

"Oh you don't have to. I just wear it because I can't control my eye. It gets red when I'm hungry."

"You know, all you have to do is eat and it'll go away." Uta pulled out an eyeball and showed it to Kaneki. "Speaking off, care for a snack?"

"Uhh… No thanks!"

"Have it your way then. Now what should I ask next...? Ah, yes. Do you have a girlfriend?"

"Uwah…! No I don't…" Kaneki began to blush as he responded to the question.

"Oh I see. You've got more troubles with cougars than with girls your age, don't you?"

"What…? Not really… If they're the same age I guess it's okay…?" Kaneki felt a little nervous as he saw Uta lick the eyeball that he offered. "Um, may I ask what these questions have to do with me?"

"Oh, it's quite important actually. The better I know you the better your mask will turn out." Uta put his drawing pad and his eyeball snack down and set a chair behind Kaneki's in order to measure his head. "What about that Ruby girl? She's cute isn't she, with the same eyepatch you two have."

"Well, she is cute. Ruby's the one who comforted bye throughout my whole ordeal, and I'm just grateful she's there for me. I don't think I would've made it this far if she wasn't there to comfort me…"

"It's always nice to have a friend alongside you. I'd never have made it to this point as well if it weren't for my buddies too."

Kaneki recalled the memory of Ruby finding him at the dump area, and her trying to protect him from Nishki. He wondered how he would've turned out if she wasn't there to get him back up after Touka shoved that arm into his face, and how she tried to stop Kaneki from trying to eat Hide. People like her were very hard to find, and Kaneki could only wonder about on how he could ever repay her for her kindness.

"Now how about Touka? I've heard she was there for you too."

"Well, she's cute as well, but also quite scary." Kaneki admitted.

"Scary? I'd believe she's more of a hard worker."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Well, for starters, ghouls aren't meant to associate themselves with humans, much less go to school with them. If we get suspicious and get caught, well you know what happens. As such, we're forced to live on the outskirts of the human world. Touka walks that fine line that separates us from humans, wearing a metaphorical mask every single day she's with them. But she doesn't let it affect her, as you can see. Working at Anteiku serving human customers, hell I'd reckon she even has a best friend she has to keep her act up towards."

"But why does a ghoul like her want to be so involved with humans?" Kaneki questioned.

"That's a good question, really. Even I don't know the answer." Uta replied. "Well, I can kind of relate to her. Whenever I get the occasional human customer, my pulse will race every time. Even that blonde girl just now made it race, while Touka stays cool throughout."

Kaneki hadn't considered before how ghouls feel living with humans, and Uta's explanation of it made him think about it even more.

"Well, I'm done with your measurements. When I'm done with your mask, I'll send it to Anteiku." Uta stood up from his seat and took up his drawing pad again. "Call that Ruby girl to take a seat. I need her measurements now."

Kaneki got up and gestured to Ruby for her to have a seat, but felt a drop of sweat on is head instead. Ruby was busy fooling around with her sister comparing which masks they had were scarier. Yang had managed to get a Full-Face White-Fang mask to scare her, while all Ruby could manage was a Blue demon mask.

"Ruby, it's your turn now." Touka stated.

"Oh it is?" Ruby put down her mask and walked to the chair, leaving Kaneki to join the rest.

"Here we go again..." Uta took up his drawing pad and began writing on it. "Any allergies related to Metal or leather?"

"None I know off."

"Full-Mask or half-mask?"

"I think a Half-mask should do. It may be rather uncomfortable for me…"

"Point taken. Now… Want to include that cute eyepatch?"

"If it works I guess. Kinda weird that Kaneki and I have the same thing huh?"

"True. Two Half-ghouls popping out of nowhere is kind of suspicious, isn't it?"

"Yeah, I'm surprised myself how I made it this far."

"Now… Do you have a boyfriend?"

"Uwah…! No I don't…!" Ruby's face began to turn red upon that question being asked. Uta couldn't help but chuckle at her having the same reaction as the other half-ghoul.

"Kaneki told me about how you've been there for him, and how you've always supported him. Do you have anything going on with him?"

"Err, um… no actually... I'm just there to help a friend in need, and since he's in the same situation as me, I'd figure we should help each other out in our times of need you know?"

"You're quite the optimist, aren't you? What's your goal in all of this, to learn to blend in with your fellow friends just like Touka?"

"Well…" Ruby began to twiddle her thumbs as she thought of her answer. "I'm hoping that Ghouls and Humans could coexist with each other…"

"That's quite the goal you have there, young lady." Uta commented as he began to measure Ruby's head.

"I know it is, really. You guys are forced to eat humans, and now that I am one well… It's not easy on me either." Ruby began to look down to the floor as she continued. "I told myself to stay positive and I should be able to get through this whole mess, but now that I think of it, I'm gonna be stuck eating humankind for the rest of my life, aren't I…"

"I'm just so lucky I have a great sister to protect me. She's perhaps the only one I can trust fully and even that was a risk. I don't think the rest of my friends are gonna take my condition very well." Ruby felt water droplets forming in her eyes, but she quickly wiped them away. "Especially one of them. She's always hated ghouls for what they did to her family name, and now she's slowly joining the CCG. She keeps telling herself that she won't fully join them, but I just fear that she may truly become one of them and how she's gonna react to me…"

Uta strangely felt his pulse race from the huntress's tale. He thought it was perhaps he felt pity for the girl and her whole ordeal with being a half-ghoul and blending in.

"Well, perhaps I can advise you to trust the right people." Uta put his measuring tape down and took up his drawing pad with a pencil and began to write on it. "I used to be a gang leader, fighting for control and power against other ghouls. But those days are long past, and in any case here I am now making a mask for the two of you. I even had a rival who has become one of my best friends now. Touka threads upon a line that she can never truly cross, but perhaps you can journey through said path. If you truly believe in your friends, you'll tell them when the time is right."

"Thank you for your advice, Mister Uta." Ruby said, as Uta put down his drawing pad and pencil. "I'll make sure to remember it."

"Your measurements are done, and I'll send you your mask once it is complete. I've got quite a good idea for your mask and Kaneki's." Uta said as he stood from his seat.

"Oh, wait mister Uta, I have a request." Ruby said as she looked at the Mask maker

"Yes, what would it be?"

"Could my sister have a mask too?"

"Hmm… Why not?" Uta looked over to Yang and called her over. "Blonde human! Get over here!"

"Wha? The name's Yang Xiao Long, I'll have you know!"

* * *

With Uta working on their masks, the four of them strolled back to Anteiku taking an underground passageway. When Ruby asked why they had to go through such an icky place, Touka simply shrugged and stated it was the fastest shortcut.

There was a small issue going within Kaneki's mind though. With knowing the explanation of how Touka tries to live with humans, the half-ghoul pondered about how much of a hard worker Touka truly was. She has to live her double-life every day she's with humans, and she'll have to give up everything if she's ever caught.

Ruby would also have to live the same way soon, with much faces to keep up. From what Kaneki remembered, most, if not all her friends were very close to her. She would have to be taking up a metaphorical mask as well soon, and from the looks of it Ruby seemed pretty okay with doing so.

Kaneki on the other hand, had nothing. Hide was his only friend before he met Ruby & Anteiku, and unlike the huntress, he wasn't going to risk the chance of Hide knowing. He couldn't afford to lose him, not now not ever.

With all that in mind, the half-ghoul had to contribute something back for Anteiku. They had been there for him all the way, and he just had to do something instead of being a burden.

"U-Um, Touka? May I ask something?" Kaneki muttered out as he stopped in his tracks, causing Ruby and Yang to stop as well.

"Yeah?" Touka said, turning around to face Kaneki.

"What happened to Hinami?"

"It's none of your business, that's what." Touka retorted as she continued walking.

"Please, I've got to know! I want to help her!" Kaneki begged as he stood his ground.

"I'm serious. Don't involve yourself in this." Touka stated as she faced Kaneki once again.

"Actually… I want to help her too." Ruby spoke softly. "I also wanna know what's happened to her."

"Yeah! There's no harm in telling us, Touka." Yang agreed.

The raven-haired girl folded her arms and looked to the ground in thought. All these guys are workers at Anteiku, so what was the harm in telling them?

"In that case…" Touka explained to the three of them that Hinami and her mother were forced to leave their home, so they had to stay in Anteiku for a while.

"I'm sure Hinami's very scared. I've never seen her so anxious before…"

The three of them looked to the ground in pity as the explanation sank in. It must have been tough for the poor girl, and now that Kaneki knew of what was going on, he was sure that he would make things better for her.

"Well, I propose we cheer her up later!" Ruby exclaimed as an idea popped up in her head, catching the attention of the rest. "We could all hide in the room, and when Hinami shows up, we give her a big jumping surprise!"

"…That's not a good idea…" Touka blankly stated, with Kaneki and Yang nodding along. "She's not the type of person to react to scares well either."

"Well, I'll think of a better plan later…" With her idea being burst like a needle popping a balloon, Ruby could only sigh and shrug along as they continued walking.

"Oh, Touka! One more question. What's the purpose of our masks again?" Ruby asked out of the blue.

"What? Didn't the manager tell you what they're for?"

"Um… No? I don't think anyone of us know what they're for…" Ruby gestured to Kaneki and Yang, who shook their heads in response.

"Sigh. What manage he is…" Touka grumbled as she began to explain.

"The doves, or ghoul investigators have begun to patron about our ward. If you run into one, you don't want them to see your face. That's what the masks are for. If they remember your face, you'll be treated as a wanted criminal and hunted down by them…" Touka trailed off as she looked Ruby in the eyes.

"Those bastards always want to stir up trouble and I believe your friend may happen to be one of them."

"What? You mean Weiss?" Ruby questioned.

"Yes. Touka's gaze became sharper and sharper as she spoke to the huntress. "I'm sure as we speak she's creating chaos within our ward, and that's something none of us want. You may deny it all you want, but I can see that your friend is becoming a threat to us. Get your friend to quit being a dove, **now**."

Kaneki and Ruby felt their spines shiver as Touka finished her sentence, the venom from it seemingly seeping into their skins. Ruby especially wanted to reason with her, but before she could Yang already spoke up to her.

"Whoa, calm down Touka!" Yang exclaimed. "Is it really that bad being an apprentice to them? She's only doing it to clear her family name and stuff like that…"

"Y-Yeah…! I mean, you let Hide off perfectly fine so…" Kaneki muttered faintly.

"No, this is different." Touka stated, anger clearly visible in her tone. "You're friend isn't part of our world, Kaneki. Ruby's friend is. I saw how she proclaimed her determination to rid us off the world, and all I can say is that you'd better make sure her tongue is in check."

"Weiss… Weiss isn't…" Ruby tried to speak reason to her, but instead felt her throat go hoarse in fear. What Touka said was true, and Ruby knew that all too well. Weiss was dealing with an entire species, and they were not brain-dead like most Grimm they've fought. Ghouls have intelligence, and knowing this fact began to make the poor girl sob. With Ruby in her own half-ghoul state, Weiss dealing with them was a risk that Ruby would rather not let her take.

Seeing the poor girl in such a pitiful state, Touka decided to let the matter go off with a warning.

"Look, just get her out of the dove program or whatever it is. It'll be easier for us to deal with two doves instead of three." Touka slowly walked up to Ruby and placed a hand on her shoulder to comfort her. "Just, please. I don't want to be forced to kill your friend."

Clearing her eyes of faint tears, Ruby looked back up to the raven-haired ghoul. "I-I… I'll try to get her to get off the program, Touka."

"Good." Touka reassured. "Let's get back to Anteiku, the smell of this tunnel is starting to get on my nerves."

"D-Ditto…!"

Yang could only fold her arms and smile seeing all of this. She too didn't want Weiss to risk her life, and she would have been more than happy to let her continue her "Dovey" path. With her younger sister in this whole ghoul mess, along with herself watching over Ruby, Yang also thought it would be best for Weiss to quit the apprenticeship.

" _This whole thing is just like Blake's issue, isn't it…"_ Yang thought to herself. _"Speaking off, wonder what she's up to?"_

* * *

" **Gnarrrrrrgggggllllllll…** "

With an instantaneous slice, the Beowolf fell to the ground, the bottom half of its body being disconnected. Seeing one of its pack being assaulted, the other Beowolves growled at the humanoid figure with a bow tied on the top of her head.

Blake readied her weapons and took a fighting stance as the Grimm slowly surrounded the Cat Fanus. Tension between the two sides steadily increased. Blake simply eased her breathing; calm and determined.

With terrifying roars, the Beowolves charged forward onto the lone humanoid, their fangs and claws ready to reap. Blake didn't even budge however; a smug looked pasted upon her face instead.

As the Grimm reached out to tear at the Fanus, the skin of the humanoid figure suddenly erupted into flames. With all the Grimm already upon the body, they had no time to react when the body suddenly exploded. Few Grimm survived the explosion, with most of them were left as body parts of their former selves

Wasting no time, Blake quickly leapt towards the remaining Grimm, and sliced across their bodies with the Katana form of her Gambol Shroud. Landing on the ground gracefully, she came face to face with only one Grimm remaining: The leader of the pack.

The Greater Beowolf snarled venomously at Blake, its blood red gaze unwavering towards the lone Fanus. It was smart enough to not fall for the trap, with Blake using a Dust-infused shadow as a bomb.

The two stared at each other as Blake readied another combat stance, The Grimm & Fanus circled around each other, tension once again returning to the battlefield.

The Greater Beowolf grew impatient as they continued to thread around. Blake gave a small taunt, stretching out her arm and pulling her finger back. With all patience lost, the Grimm howled furiously and leapt towards Blake, a claw raised prepared to tear her into pieces.

Its claw never met flesh, as the body suddenly decomposed to smoke. Instinctively, the Grimm swiped to its sides, remembering tactics from humans it fought long ago. The swipes were as futile as before, as Blake didn't leap to the side.

She jumped up into the air.

With a determined battlecry, Blake landed onto the Grimm's skull, undefended, and pierced her Katana through the head.

" **GRRAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRGGHGHGGGGHHHHHHLLLLLLLLLLLLL!** "

The Grimm howled as it was met with searing pain, sending it in a fury. The Greater Beowolf swiped both its claws towards its face as last-ditch effort to eliminate the girl.

The claws were met with not human flesh, but it's own Grimm skull instead.

The Beowolf unwillingly tore its own mask apart, as Blake leapt up away to safety. With all it's strength lost, the Pack Leader fell to the ground, defeated and dead.

Landing gracefully, Blake put away her weapon and looked at the corpse, red wisps slowly eating away at the body. The mission was complete, and Blake sighed out in accomplishment. Elimination of a pack of Beowolves dangerously close to the school compound was complete, and now she could return back to her dorm.

Lately with all the stuff going on with Ruby & Yang with their new coffee shop jo, and Weiss not being there due to her Junior Investigator duties, Blake was left to roam about the school by herself for the past few weeks. The events of the White Fang were still fresh in her mind, knowing that one day Torchwick would return fully prepared to take the fight to them. Despite already planning to put a stop to Roman, the Fanus simply couldn't help but worry.

" _We'll deal with the White Fang as a team soon, I just need to get back to Beacon."_ Blake told herself. Worrying would get her nowhere, as such the fanus headed back to the direction of the academy.

"Rrrrarrrrrrgggghhhhh"

She was stopped in her tracks as a deafening roar screeched from the east of Blake. Curious as to what it was, Blake took a detour towards the source of the noise.

" _It's probably just Grimm being hunted down. Nothing much I hope."_

As she neared the source of the noise, Blake came to an open area and saw a major Ursa fighting humanoid figure in a coat with a hood up, apparently unarmed. The Grimm's strikes were brutal but slow, allowing the hooded figure to dodge them all with ease.

" _Who is that…?"_ Blake thought as she lay in the nearby bushes to observe the confrontation. She wasn't going to interfere, since she didn't know who this person was.

The Ursa lunged at the hooded figure, only to topple over onto the ground, empty handed. Growling in fury, the Ursa once again charged towards it's enemy, leaping up into the air. It raised its claw ready to slice the foe apart.

All the strike met was only the top of the figure's hood, as it slid under the Ursa unscathed.

" _A member of the White Fang…!?"_

With its hood down, the figure was revealed to be a short, black-haired fanus that wore a Grimm mask over her face. Without delay, the girl did a huge backflip, landing onto the Ursa Major's back.

" _I've got to do something about this. The White Fang have already started their plans while everyone is… Wait. What's she doing…?"_ Blake's thoughts were interrupted when the girl suddenly screamed, apparently in pain. The hood she wore suddenly turned red as two red appendages came out from her back.

" _A… A Ghoul…!?"_

The kagune launched themselves onto the Grimm's back, piercing through its coal-black skin. The Ursa roared in pain, shaking in panic to get the girl off its back. The ghoul gripped onto the Grimm with her hands, unwilling to be shaken off. One could even compare this to a rodeo.

Suddenly the girl did something that Blake felt very disgusted about. She lowered her body and bit into the grimm, causing it to once again roar in agony. The ghoul continued to feast upon the Grimm as the Grimm shook it's back more and more, the pain growing stronger and stronger to it.

Having enough of this rodeo ride, the girl released her grip of the Ursa and leapt high into the air. She positioned herself and her kagune as she fell down, ready to strike once more.

The Ursa was decapitated instantly as the ghoul landed gracefully back onto the ground.+

" _What is going on here!?"_ Blake thought to herself. _"A Ghoul, let alone a White Fang member, eating a Grimm!?"_

With the Grimm dead, the Ghoul turned back to the corpse and quickly lunged into it, apparently still wanting more of its meat. Blake took this time to examine the surroundings. It appeared that this White Fang member was alone and hungry to eat, as no other people could be seen from her position.

" _I've got to tell my friends about this. The White Fang has ghoul members among their ranks now!? Unbelievable…"_ Blake moved closer to see the ghoul carefully to remember her face, and spotted tiny but visible stubby horns on her head. A Bull Fanus that was also a ghoul…

Her movement caused the bush to rustle, causing the Ghoul quickly turn to the noise. Blake quickly dived back as to not let herself be seen. The ghoul quickly realised that she's being watched. She plucked a piece of the Grimm's corpse and dashed away, out of Blake's sight.

As the ghoul disappeared into the rest of the forest, Blake turned back to Beacon's direction and briskly made her way there. She had to let her team know that the White Fang were coming, perhaps sooner than they'd thought.

" _Even Ghouls are starting to join them…"_

* * *

"Any leads yet, Kureo?" Weiss asked the senior investigator as they strolled through the dark alleyway.

"Well, I'm afraid there are none so far. Let's just keep searching the alleyways till we find one. It's quite fun doing so anyway." He replied.

"Hmm…" Weiss muttered. They were still searching for the location of the ghoul known as Jason, with his metal "toy" still viable evidence in trying to find him. There were still many things Weiss did not know, and she'd been asking the seniors investigators she's paired up with to know more about ghouls and their tendencies.

"A small question, if I may. Why are we searching in an alleyway?" The heiress asked.

"Ghouls tend to hide in dark places such as alleyways and corners to keep themselves hidden from the world. When someone unfortunate approaches their hideout, they'll kill and eat them undetected." Amon explained. "That's why we have to rid them off this world. Innocent people die at the hands of these monsters every single day."

If there was one thing Weiss didn't truly appreciate, it was the act of killing the ghouls themselves. They weren't like the Grimm she'd fought long before, but they were like ordinary humans. Living, breathing and eati-

No. They were different. Ghouls eat humans to sustain themselves every single day, and they deserved to die. She'd been lectured on this by her senior investigators many times, that they're literally Grimm in human clothing. Mercy could not be shown to these monsters, and Weiss was going to start showing none.

This wasn't like the fanus, no. That was simply blatant discrimination, and Weiss learned that the hard way.

Her thoughts were interrupted when she heard footsteps from behind. Instinctively Weiss turned around to see Two middle-aged ghouls suddenly appearing from the shadows, and charging towards them mercilessly, their red eyes filled with fury and hatred.

"Die you dove scum!" The ghouls cried out

"Amon, behind you!" Weiss called out.

"Back off!" Amon quickly turned around and shoved the ghouls back onto a wall with his briefcase effortlessly. Kureo smirked at the futile attempt of ambush the ghouls could come up with.

"Ahh, just the lead we needed! Two ghouls to interrogate, and they're as pathetic as ever!" Kureo exclaimed with bloodthirsty delight in his eyes. "Weiss, if you may."

"Alright now..." Weiss pulled out a rusted plier and showed it to the ghoul. "What do you know about this thing?"

"Y-You… You freaking bitch… How am I supposed to know what that is!?" One of them yelled out in pain, clenching their stomach. "Y-You should all just go to hell like the scum you ar-"

His sentence was cut short by a quick slice to the neck by Mado. The decapitation made his blood splatter all over the wall, and some of it even landed onto Weiss's face. The heiress flinched at this sudden action, but wiped it off. This was to be expected. Ghouls were to be killed, and she shouldn't be surprised by her Senior's sudden strike.

The other ghoul quickly backed himself up on the wall in fear. Weiss took this opportunity to question the survivor once again.

"Do you know who owns this thing or not!?"

"Naw man…! I've never seen that thing in my life before!"

"You aren't lying are you?" Kureo questioned the helpless ghoul.

"No way! Why would I be lying to ya man!?"

"Your last chance, whelp. Do you know who's this belongs to!?" Weiss demanded. This was going nowhere and she knew this...

"N-No M'am!"

The heiress sighed. This was a useless lead, since he's not going to reveal anything and since he's useless, it was ripe time for Kureo to kill the ghoul.

"Well, sweet dreams!" Kureo mocked as he readied his strike, but before he could attack however, Weiss lifted her hand to stop him.

"I've got this." She stated.

Readier her Rapier, Weiss took a deep breath. This would be her first kill, the declaration of her war against Ghouls. Turning Myrtenaster's revolver chamber, she raised it up as the blade glowed icy blue. She hesitated for what felt like eternity before she decided to strike.

"D-Die, you monster!" The heiress proclaimed

She swiftly slashed across the ghoul's chest, causing him to drop to the down, groaning in pain.

"Well done, Weiss." Mado commended. "Let's find another alleyway, this one's hopeless."

"Y-Yes sir." She muttered in response. Mado headed off while Weiss took one last look at the ghoul, his body unmoving and his blood turning the floor red. She felt a hand pat her back, and she turned around to see Amon looking at the ghoul as well.

"What we do is right. This is simply justice against the ghouls, who've killed more than we could count." He stated. "Literally anyone could be a ghoul, I learned this the hard way by trusting even an old woman."

"I know but… Is this truly the only way?" Weiss asked as she looked to the ground.

"I... I do not know, but I know that all of them deserve a swift death, at the very least." Amon said. "Come, let's go. Mado's getting impatient."

"I am you know! I've got so much Ghouls to kill and Kagune to obtain! Bwah Hah!" The man snickered from a distance.

"Yeah. Let's go."

* * *

Ruby, Kaneki, Touka and Yang returned back to Anteiku as the sun set, most pretty bummed out after walking through a smelly tunnel all the way. There weren't many customers at the time anyway, so they could catch a small breather.

"Welcome back. How were the masks?" Yoshimura asked.

"It's all done and done. Uta will send them here once he's finished with them." Touka replied.

"Excellent. I believe it's been quite a day for you, so you are free to go if you may."

"I'll clean up the counter before I go, if that's okay." Ruby said.

"I'll help out too." Kaneki said as well.

"That's good to know. Koma would like to have some assistance." Yoshimura turned to the Yang and Touka and asked what they would be doing next.

"I'll be upstairs studying…" Touka stated as she walked up to the stairs.

"I'll… hit the hay. I'm tired." Yang hesitantly stated, scratching the back of her head.

"What? Why are you leaving me all alone, sis?" Ruby asked.

"Eh, too bummed out by that mask guy to work more, so I'll be back at our dorm. Don't die while I'm not here!" Yang said as she took her leave out the door. Ruby waved to her goodbye before heading off to the counter with Kaneki.

"Oh, hello halfies! Here to help out with the counter?" The brown haired waiter greeted.

"Um, yes we are. Where should we start?" Kaneki replied with Ruby nodding along.

"Let's see…" Koma picked up a half-empty jar of coffee beans and showed it to the half-ghouls. "I'll need some more coffee beans from upstairs. They have a red label on them, so you can't miss 'em. You can also find your red cookies up there if you want."

"I'll get the beans; it's not a problem for me!" Ruby stated proudly. She also wanted to get some of those cookies as well, since she ran out when she went to get a mask.

"Also I'll need someone to clean up the dishes for me cause I… actually could use a small break, heheheh…"

"Not a problem. I'll get it done." Kaneki assured.

"Great, great! Now let me run off to the restroom now. Have fun!" Koma said as he slowly made his way upstairs to where the bathrooms were located.

Ruby walked behind the counter to see the coffee beans. Pure black ones that gave a rich aroma when brewed right, which Ruby couldn't do so. Sighing to herself at her inability to brew coffee well, Ruby headed upstairs to find the beans.

"Coffee beans coffee beans, where could the coffee beans be…?" The huntress muttered to herself as she strolled along the corridors. "Koma didn't tell me which room it was in, so I guess I'll have to look around myself."

Ruby opened the first door she encountered, and saw it was an empty bedroom. This was the bedroom where Hide rested after the incident with Nishki, to which Ruby hoped such a thing wouldn't happen again.

She opened the second door, and found herself dismayed to find it was the broom closet. _"I hope my story doesn't end in a broom closet. That'll be awkward…"_

Ruby quickly opened the third door she walked to and found it was Touka's room, The raven-haired girl was busy studying, listening to music with blue headphones. Touka heard her door open and turned to see Ruby standing nervously by it.

"What do you want?" The ghoul asked expressionless.

"S-Sorry to interrupt, but may I know where are the coffee beans?" Ruby stuttered

"They're in the meeting room, the last one of the corridor." Touka stated as she pointed to the west.

"Thanks, good luck for your test!" Ruby cheered as she closed the door for Touka. The ghoul couldn't help but smile at the young huntress's happy attitude.

Ruby made her way to the door to the meeting room, and stood outside of it. She took a deep breath and reassured herself to find the coffee beans faster. Ruby opened the door.

The huntress was met with the sight of a young girl with short brown hair, with flowery headband. What distinguished her from regular girls was what she was doing; eating a plate of Human flesh with a fork and a knife on the table.

Hinami's ghoulish eyes met with Ruby, and she stopped her fork mid-air for a few moments. The two of them stared at each other for what could seem like an eternity.

"H-H-Hinami…! I-It's nice to s-s-see you here…!" Ruby stumbled on her words constantly at the sight of the ghoulish child eating human flesh like steak. She'd never really seen anyone eat human flesh out in the open, let alone like a regular human meal and that made her pretty terrified.

"U-Um… Hello…" The young ghoul muttered, using a napkin to wipe the blood off her mouth. Her eyes slowly returned to normal, showing natural brown eyes.

"S-Sorry to um… Intrude on your meal…" Ruby still felt pretty creeped out looking at Hinami like that, but she closed her eyes and reassured herself.

" _This is what ghouls do all the time, I shouldn't react so strongly to this…"_

"S-So… How about I introduce you a little snack of mine…?" Ruby asked Hinami.

"Snack…?"

"Yeah! its cookie, and I eat it all the time." Ruby walked over to the shelves in the corner of the room, and found two jars of coffee beans, and a jar of red coloured cookies. Taking the jar of cookies from the shelf, Ruby walked back over to Hinami and placed the jar on the table, taking a seat next to the girl.

"Um, I can't eat cookies though…" Hinami mentioned to Ruby, pointing out an obvious fact.

"Oh, but these are special! Anteiku specially made them so that they are able to be eaten by ghouls, you and I alike." Ruby opened the jar and took out a cookie, showing it to Hinami. "Take a look; it's quite delicious isn't it?"

The young ghoul took a good look at it and took a small breath of it. "It smells… it smells good!"

"Here, try it!" Ruby extended her arm to give Hinami the cookie, to which the young girl took and bit on it.

"Wow…" Hinami commented. "It's delicious!"

"Told ya! Now let's dig in!" Ruby said as she took out a cookie for herself.

The two of them chuckled happily together as they bit into their cookies. From what Ruby heard before, these cookies weren't like regular cookies with their unhealthy properties, which meant that she was allowed to dig in as many as she wanted to. She refrained from eating too many cookies at once however, as five cookies were equal to an arm worth of a body, and ghouls didn't need to eat all the time.

"Can I ask you something, um… umm..." Hinami muttered to the half-ghoul, dragging on as if she forgot something.

"My name's Ruby Rose, in case you forgot."

"Ahh, May I ask you something, Miss Ruby?"

"Yes, what is it?"

"What are you?"

"Um, what do you mean?" The question caught Ruby off guard, and Ruby put down her cookie to listen to Hinami's question.

"It's your scent. I can tell people and ghouls apart from their smell, and yours isn't like a normal ghoul's. So if I may ask, what are you?" The young ghoul asked with a curious look.

"I guess you can call me a half-breed of ghouls."

"A half-breed?"

"Well, I used to be human before, but something happened to me and made me into what I am now, a Half-Ghoul of sorts." Ruby explained. She took off her medical eyepatch to show Hinami her eyes. The right eye was normal with Ruby's trademark silver iris, but upon willing it, the left eye transformed black with a red center. The kakugan of a ghoul.

"Oh…!" Hinami expressed discovery as she also willed her eyes back into their ghoulish state. "Just like my eyes, but only one! Is that what the other waiter has?"

"Yeah. He's called Kaneki, and I think you two will get along quite nicely!"

Ruby went on to eat her cookie happily while Hinami looked back at her plate of flesh, uncertainty in her eyes. The young girl glanced back and forth at her

"What's wrong, Hinami?"

"I should eat finish my meal first…" Hinami answered softly. "The cookies are great but… I don't enjoy overeating…"

Ruby simply smiled at the young girl's innocence, and pat her on the head in amusement. "Why don't I help you finish your meal then? I haven't had a proper meal in a long time anyway."

"Sure, thanks sis!" Hinami beamed. The young girl's choice of nickname startled Ruby however.

"S-Sis?"

"Yeah! Everyone at Anteiku is considered family to me!"

Ruby felt her eyes water at the sight of the joyful young Hinami. "Sure, I'll be your sister!"

"Yay! Now let's eat up!"

"Okay kiddo!"

Ruby grabbed a fork from a nearby shelf and took up a piece of meat. The two of them felt their ghoulish eyes return as they began to consume their respective bites.

Suddenly, the door creaked open without warning. The noise made the girls look up to see Kaneki at the door.

"Hey, Koma's wondering where the coffee… beans…" Kaneki stopped himself mid-sentence as he saw the two girls, with their kakugans active, each about to place a piece of meat in their mouths.

"UWAAAAAAAAHH!" Kaneki cried in shock as the stumbled onto the floor at the horrific sight to him.

"W-Wait, Kaneki!" Ruby called out to him concerned.

"A-Ahh… Take your t-time…!" The half-ghoul waiter shouted as he quickly got back on his feet and closed the door dashing away, panicking.

Hinami and Ruby could only look on in silence, confused at the scene that just happened. They then looked at each other with worrying looks.

"W-Well, he's like that most of the time." Ruby shrugged as she tried to reassure. "He'll get back to normal soon, so don't worry."

Hinami looked to the plate, dismayed at someone screaming at the sight of her eating, but with Ruby's reassurance, she continued to eat her meal.

" _Well, I hope he doesn't take this to heart…"_ Ruby thought to herself.

* * *

 _End_

 **Thanks for reading this after a long time. I'll try to update more often, but no promises.**

 **Review if you have any doubts in your head about my story or anything unclear. My writing isn't the best, anyway.**


	10. Chapter 9: Never Expect Pity

**Chapter 9**

 **== Never Expect Pity ==**

 **IS THIS STORY COVER GOING TO UPDATE PROPERLY OR WHAT.**

 _ **Enjoy**_

 _ **Try to spot the obligatory Undertale reference.**_

* * *

"Ooh, you bumped into them while they were eating, eh? Tough luck kiddo."Koma chuckled at the distressed Kaneki.

"Yeah… To think I'd see that scary sight from the girls…" The eye-patch wearing waiter replied solemnly, while looking down.

"Oh cheer up man, they aren't gonna hold any grudges against you." Koma reassured. "You should probably apologise to them though. Most ghouls don't like sharing the details of their meals, especially the ladies."

"I get that but... even Ruby was eating as well…"

"It's no big deal, really! You can start by making a cup of coffee for them. They'll appreciate it." Koma looked over Kaneki's shoulder as someone new made an appearance by the door. "And speaking of Ruby, she's right behind you."

"What?" Kaneki turned around to see a nervous Ruby holding two jars of coffee beans.

"H-Hey there, Kaneki."

"Oh, um. Hey."

The two of them stood awkwardly at each other for a few moments, both unsure of what to say.

"S-So, um…" Kaneki muttered out in attempt to break the silence. "Sorry for barging in…"

"It's no big deal, really." Ruby reassured him. "I'm fine with it, since it was just an accident and all…"

"Well aren't you two cuties acting so innocently. Just kiss already!"Koma teased, causing the two of them to blush profusely.

"Koma!" The half-ghouls said in union, their cheeks glowing red with embarrassment.

"Gah Haha! How adorable..." The senior waiter chuckled heartily. "Anyway, can I have those coffee beans yet?"

"Oh, right sorry… Here." Ruby apologised as she gave the coffee beans to him.

"There we go. Now Kaneki can make that coffee for Hinami. Convenient, isn't it?" Koma proclaimed, placing the jar onto the counter.

"Oh! You want to make coffee for her? That's great!" Ruby exclaimed. "You should spend some time with her like I did, like letting her try those red cookies!"

"I'll try…"

With all that done and done, Kaneki went to brew a coffee. Ruby looked up to the clock on the wall. The hands of it showed the time currently being 6:55pm.

"I think it's about time I went home, isn't it?" The huntress asked her fellow waiters.

"I guess so. I'm going home after I make a coffee for Hinami." Kaneki replied, carefully heating the coffee he was making.

"If you want to. The great Devil Ape also needs to have a shut-eye too, you know." Koma humbly boasted. The half-ghouls could only sigh, amused by his confidence.

"Hmm." Ruby hummed as she thought about it. "Well in that case I'll head home now. I'll see you all tomorrow!" Ruby said as she made her way to the exit.

"See ya." Kaneki smiled gently as he waved her goodbye.

"Don't get yourself into trouble, or I'll be forced to have the Devil Ape save you!" Koma teased once again, waving to her as well.

Ruby could only giggle at the playfulness of her co-worker. "Trust me, I won't!"

* * *

The dim lights of Beacon always felt joyous, and no matter how many times Ruby strolled through the courtyard, she always felt alive doing so. The evening sky's soothing wind cooled down even the most agitated people, and the peaceful atmosphere never failed to make one just take a relaxing walk. It was just so calm to be here.

Ruby silently wished that the calm would last forever. All the happiness the huntress had during her time at Anteiku was simply unforgettable. All of the staff was very fun to interact with. She had grown fond of serving customers their orders, her politeness being acknowledged by many, and most of all they felt like a family to her, as Hinami had said before.

Her train of thought was interrupted when she spotted a familiar blonde student walking aimlessly around the courtyard. Jaune Arc looked down to the ground, his mood seeming unusually solemn. Concerned for her friend, Ruby walked over to him.

"Hey there, Jaune." Ruby said as she approached Jaune, his gaze now directed towards her. "What's up?"

"Oh! Hi Ruby. Didn't think you'd be around here at this time." He replied.

"I just came back from work. You know that Anteiku place I've been talking about? It was quite an eventful day. Did you know one of my co-workers got the shock of his life?" Ruby almost began to ramble about the things that happened there, when she noticed Jaune exhale deeply.

"It must be really nice, having such great people to hang around there, isn't it?" He murmured sadly.

"What's wrong Jaune?" Ruby asked, concerned with her friend's current mood. Jaune wasn't always the greatest fighter so to speak, but he normally wasn't this depressed about it.

"It's… It's nothing." The blonde mumbled, still solemn as ever.

"Come on. There has to be something going on? You can tell me."

"No, it's none of your business, really!" He shouted uncontrollably to Ruby, making her jump back. Jaune quickly realised what he did, and apologised sincerely to her.

"L-Look. It's a very personal matter so I'd rather not go telling everyone about this okay…" He explained

"Oh… Sorry for bugging you then." Ruby muttered while feeling somewhat guilty. "I'll just get back to my room then…"

"No, wait hold on." Jaune stated, causing Ruby to look back at him curiously. "…I'll tell you."

"One of my sisters..." Jaune paused, took in a deep breath, and continued. "One of my sisters was attacked by a ghoul. She's in the hospital right now."

Ruby put her hand to her mouth in shock. "Oh my… That's…!"

"Terrible I know!" Jaune finished the sentence for her in a flurry. "I mean, out of nowhere your sister calls you to tell you your other sister was attacked while she was hanging out with your other sister while they were doing something for your other sister so…" He quickly stopped himself from rambling when he realised what he was saying.

Ruby looked down to the ground, unsure on how to comfort the poor guy. She couldn't just tell him that not all ghouls were evil, since hasn't seen a ghoul himself yet.

"Well, I'm sure she'll get better real soon…"

"Yeah, I hope so too…" Jaune sighed once again as he looked up to the night sky. "This is life with seven sisters, ladies and gentlemen…"

The two became silent, unsure of what to talk about at the moment.

…

…

…

"Hey, Ruby?" Jaune asked, breaking the silence.

"Yeah?"

"What do you think of the name Flower Power?"

"Um… I think it sounds both cheesy and cute." Ruby answered

"Really?"

"Yeah. It's kinda like someone bringing a powerful flower or something like that you know?" She explained "What's it for anyway?"

"Well, I'm thinking of a few names to use for team combo attacks."

"Oh?"

"Flower Power's the name for Nora and Ren's combo attack, and I kind of have a good idea for the other names I'll be using. There's just one problem though, I can't think of a name for a combo attack with Pyrrha and I. Do you have any good suggestions?"

Ruby thought for a few moments, putting her hand to her jaw as she pondered for a few possible names. Suddenly, a metaphorical lightbulb appeared above Ruby's head as she found out an appropriate name.

"Ruby, why's there a lightbulb on your-"

"I've got a name! Arkos!" Ruby exclaimed in delight

"Ark... Kos?" Jaune repeated in confusion.

"Yeah! It's your lasts names combined! Ark and Nikos!" Ruby explained.

"That's… That's…!" Jaune trailed off for a few moments, making Ruby silently squeal as the tension steadily rose.

"That's perfect!"

Jaune's face lit up in happiness as he accepted the name Ruby suggested.

"Thanks! I'm sure they'll love the combo names!"

"Yeah, I'm very sure they will." Ruby smirked. She had a few combination names herself, and she was secretly dying to use them soon.

"Well, I guess I'm done roaming about. I'll get back to my dorm. See ya Ruby." Jaune waved goodbye to her as he strolled happily back to his quarters. Arkos sure does seem like a good name to him.

"Bye!"

As Jaune eventually walked off into the distance, Ruby looked up to the night sky once more. The twinkling stars eased her soul, and with that, Ruby made her way back to her dorm as well.

* * *

The half-ghoul turned the knob of the door and pushed inwards. She was expecting to see her three best friends lying about doing whatever they would do. What she didn't expect is a bummed out Yang lying on her bed, her legs peeking out from the side.

"Yang, I'm back! Where's everyone?" Ruby asked.

"Huh-w-what!?" Yang groaned. The blonde clumsily fell from her bed, landing in the middle of the dormitory with a loud thud. She slowly got back up, while scratching the back of her head.

"Sis, whaddya doing?"

"What? I was just taking a nap, that's all." She explained. "When I came back it was lonely, so I just did some training, punching target dummies and whatnot. After all of that I took a nap! Simple as that."

Ruby looked at her scroll to check the time. "It's 7:43 right now. Where's everyone?"

"Right behind you?" The elder sister replied.

"You really like using that phrase, don't ya?"

"No really, they are!"

"Hah, well I'm not falling for your scares this time. I'm positive that there's absolutely no one behind me right now!"

"Says the one without depth perception…" An irate voice spoke from behind the confident huntress.

"Whoa!"

Ruby toppled over in a shock as she heard a new voice tell her off. She looked up to see Weiss and Blake by the doorway, a particularly irritated expression on the former's face.

"H-Hey guys! I didn't see you there!"

"You have your back turned to us; of course you didn't see."

The two entered and walked over to their beds, putting down their equipment by the shelves.

"So, what's up?" Ruby asked.

"Blake and I were discussing some things just now, about the White Fang." Weiss explained.

"What about them?" Yang asked.

Weiss looked to Blake, and the fanus nodded in acknowledgement.

"The White Fang has Ghouls among their ranks now." Blake told the two grimly.

"WHAT!?" The sisters shouted in union upon hearing the news.

"Yes. It's something to be worried about indeed…" Blake trailed off, looking to the floor.

"How do you know this?" Ruby questioned, eager to know the answer.

"I saw a ghoul with a White Fang mask fight an Ursa earlier today. She used her ghoul powers, those red tentacles things, to kill the Grimm." The fanus explained. "Although there was something to note about…"

"What is it?"

"The ghoul was eating the flesh of the Grimm."

Ruby didn't even mutter anything in reply this time. Ghouls eating Grimm flesh? That was news to her ears, definitely.

"Ruby, we've got to do something about the White Fang, now more than ever." Blake urged. "If not, who knows what they'll do now that they've got the ghouls on their side!?"

"Indeed." Weiss agreed. "The sooner we deal with them, the better."

Being the leader of her team, Ruby was authorised with the final say in matters like this. They had previously planned to deal with them on Friday, and since today was a Monday, they had 5 days remaining to gather to prepare before they set off with the plan. However, with it being made apparent that they couldn't waste time, Ruby had to do something about this.

"We'll deal with them sooner than usual, I get it. I could even get some help too…"

"Um, sis. I don't think what your thinking is a good idea right now." Yang voiced out to her.

"I don't know, really. We'll deal with them soon, I promise. I'm just not prepared to fight well, ghouls…"

"I'd hate to berate on you like before, but you should really be prepared to fight those savages." Weiss advised in a sharp, piercing tone. "Those monsters…"

Ruby could only look down in dejection. Weiss still hated the ghouls as much as she hated fanus from before. As much as Ruby would want to, now wasn't the time to reveal her secret. The additional tension in the air would just make things worse for all of them.

"We have to stop them as soon as possible. I've got a couple of connections that could be rather… _eager_ … to fight them." Weiss said.

"It's the ghoul investigators, right?" Yang asked.

"Correct. With their help, I believe we'll be able to put a stop to them. Torchwick won't continue his plans any longer." Weiss looked over to Ruby. "So, what will it be Ruby? Are you willing to stop them sooner or go with the usual plan?"

Ruby continued looking to the floor for a few moments before rising up. "We'll stop them soon, I'm just not... It's just that..."

"What is it, Ruby? Say it!" Weiss yelled.

"My weapon… It's not really usable now…"

"What?"

"Crescent Rose was dented a while ago. I somehow manage to break the blade or something, heheh…" Ruby nervously replied, scratching the back of her head.

The heiress sighed and rolled her eyes. "Expect no less, they say… especially from a dolt like you."

"Y-Yeah…! Heheh, I'm an idiot… I'll get it fixed, soon no problem really!" She tried to joke about it to ease the tension. "Besides, you've got your um… Dove things to do, right Weiss?"

"Perhaps…" The heiress mumbled. Weiss looked at Ruby's eyepatch. "Are you gonna do something about your eye?"

"Oh, this?" Ruby took off her medical eyepatch and pointed to her eye. "It's just itchy every now and then, so the doctor um… said to just leave it on for a while…"

Weiss seemed slightly suspicious of Ruby's explanation, raising an eyebrow as she placed her hands to her hips. "I don't believe eye problems last this long. I've had a first-hand experience of one I'll have you know."

"Yeah, but…" Ruby stuttered, putting her hands behind her back nervously.

"Guys!" Yang cut in, allowing Ruby to sigh in relief as all attention was turned to her. "Friday isn't far from now, so there's no need to rush. Once Ruby's weapon is repaired, we'll take them on."

"But… Ghouls in the White Fang…!" Weiss exclaimed. "If we don't do something about them they'll…"

"…They'll attack us all, we know." Yang ended in her stead. "But how can we stop them when one of us can't even fight?"

"Y-Yeah I'm pretty bad without my weapon…" Ruby added in.

"Ugh… Fine…" Weiss groaned in dismay, folding her arms while looking to the side. "We won't rush, but your weapon better be prepared by Friday, Ruby!"

"Will do, oh beloved Queen of Ice!"

* * *

The early hours of the Anteiku were relatively quiet. All of the staff was idling about, cleaning up the shop before customers arrived. Most of them however, were busy listening to a human's interesting story.

"…And when we were just about to kiss, I punched him in the face and sent him flying across the club!" Yang boasted to her co-workers sitting casually by the bar stools.

"Nice! The Devil Ape approves!" Koma applauded.

"What happened afterwards?" Irimi asked curiously.

"I went up against all of his goons, pieces of cake really. There were these two sisters that were quite challenging, but I still beat them all up in the end!"

"And then sis punched a hole through entire club." Ruby commented while a table.

"Oh, right! Almost forgot about that part. The man had it coming when he messed with my hair!"

"How brutal…" Kaneki muttered. "It kinds of reminds me of Touka when she's angry…"

"Hey, knock it off eye-patch!" The ghoul in question retorted

"S-Sorry!"

"You should never mess with sis's hair." Ruby advised.

"Yeah you shouldn't! If you do, you might find yourself in a… _hairy…_ situation!" The blonde joked.

The room suddenly went dead silent, and everyone did a face palm at the exact same time.

"What? Couldn't help it…"

"Nah it's nothing serious." Koma reassured. "Maybe you should try ditching the bad puns though. They're _Terribad!"_

Ruby suddenly went stiff and dropped to the floor, as if she was suddenly frozen solid and Yang suddenly choked on her own spit, coughing madly. Everyone else just cringed horribly at Koma.

"…What? What did I do?" He said with perhaps the most puzzled look he could muster.

Everyone then broke into laughter, leaving the poor Devil Ape even more confused.

As the laughter eased, the doorbell chimed as two familiar faces appeared by the entrance. A mother and her daughter.

"Hello, everyone." Ryouko greeted, a friendly smile among her features as she waved to the friendly faces of Anteiku.

"Good morning Kaneki! Good morning Ruby! Good morning Touka!" Her daughter, Hinami, was much more enthusiastic, constantly repeating her words to everyone individually. "I hope you all have a great day!"

"Hey there, Hinami!" Ruby greeted, having quickly recovered from her dramatic frozen state. "How you doing?"

"I'm great, sis!" The child replied. Yang's ears perked up when she heard the girl call Ruby her sister. "I have a present for you!"

"Oh?"

"Here you are!" Hinami showed Ruby a Rose from behind her back. It wasn't the most outstanding of roses, it looking obvious that it was bought from a nearby flower store, but it was the thought and kindness from Hinami that made Ruby beam up.

"Thank you! This means a lot to me!"

"You're welcome!"

With that, Koma led the two upstairs to the staff quarters, giving thumbs up to his fellow co-workers as he closed the door. The staff quickly began to work, with Touka yelling at Kaneki immediately. Yang approached her sister and grabbed her attention by tapping her shoulder.

"Hey, why did she call you sis? Am I not good enough for you?" The blonde mused in a casual tone.

"No! It's not like that!" Ruby quickly defended." It's just that she considers everyone at Anteiku to be like a family to her. You should try to get to know Hinami. She's really nice!"

Yang folded her arms with a confident smirk on her face. "So that's how it is, eh? Well maybe I'll need to be a better sister than her!"

Ruby smiled back at her sister when the entrance opened up once again. "Welcome to Anteiku!" Ruby instinctively greeted the newcomer.

She was met with the sight of a tall, handsome looking young man. His bright blue hair reflected the sunlight's rays, giving it a shiny look, and his crimson red suit made him look even fancier. He stretched his arms as he took a deep intake of oxygen as he strolled into the café, intent on enjoying as much of the peaceful environment as he could.

"What a wonderful aroma." He commented, pinching the bridge of his nose in pleasure. "All of a suddenly, I feel much more…"

The staff of Anteiku suddenly had stern looks on their face; Touka's glare the most poisonous of them all.

"…relaxed."

"State your business, Tsukiyama." Touka questioned harshly, her gaze unwavering with hostility.

"Now now, my dear Touka. That's no way to treat a guest!" He said casually, flicking stray dust off his suit. "Then again, I can't expect much from you now, can I?"

"…You're lucky I'm at work right now." She replied. The elegant man simply chuckled at her threats. He looked around the coffee shop and spotted three new faces. Two of the waiters, wearing out-of-trend medical eyewear, were standing in place looking at him with uncertainty, while the blonde one glared at him with aggression not unlike Touka's.

"What's this? Anteiku's added more members to their family! How adorable…" The gourmet teased. He walked up to first eye-patched waiter, ignoring the uninteresting blonde woman, and circled around him. "Aren't you a sight for sore eyes? What's your name?"

"I'm… Kaneki…" He answered nervously. Tsukiyama suddenly began to sniff at Kaneki's neck, making the poor half-ghoul jump back instinctively.

"Gusto seducente…" He muttered unanimously. Ruby's impression of the man dropped ten-fold, putting her hand to her mouth while Yang's unrelenting gaze became even sharper, clenching her fist on the table.

"Leave him alone. Take your scheming sideshows somewhere else, will you?" Touka berated, flicking her wrist to him.

"Oh? Haha, you still have no sense of tact after all these years." Tsukiyama put his hand on Kaneki's shoulder and whispered to him. "I'll look forward to seeing you, dear."

Kaneki could only shiver in discomfort.

"How about this dear morsel?" The gourmet commented as he turned to Ruby and walked up to her. "I'm sure you're just as sweet as Kaneki over there."

"Um… Hi… I'm… um… Ruby Rose… um…" The huntress stuttered uncontrollably. Tsukiyama's presence made her spine shiver in both embarrassment and uncertainty. He leaned down to look at her features much more closely. "Ruby? What a refined name, reserved for only the most beautiful of gems, such as yourself my fair lady…"

"That's enough." Yang interjected, getting up from her seat. "Don't you dare do anything to her."

"Oh my, aren't you the protective one?" The gourmet commented, turning to her. "Who are you supposed to be dearie, her sister?"

"You bet I am!" Yang boasted proudly. "If you even lay a finger on her, your face is gonna have tea-time with my fist."

Tsukiyama simply took a deep breath and chuckled. "Aren't I the guest here? Why must you treat me with such hostility? I assure you I only want to leave a good impression on these refined waiters…"

He calmly strolled towards the exit, not a speck of hostility present within his pacing. Yang's stern look continued to eye him, uncertain of this mysterious man.

"…but if you insist, I shall take my leave. However it would be rude of me to not at least know your name, brave one."

"Yang." She answered. "Yang Xiao Long."

"Yang…? You must be in a dilemma." He stated. "Perhaps the reason you're so angry is because you've lost your other half?"

"Watch it." The enraged blonde gave him a look that could sharpen even a pen, further making Tsukiyama chuckle in pity.

"Oh don't worry. I was just taking a stroll around the ward and I couldn't help but visit this fine establishment."

The gourmet made his way to the door, strolling casually while ignoring the irritated faces the staff gave him.

"I don't intend to cause any trouble" He snickered. "At least for now…"

"You'd better not you damn creep…" Touka threatened venomously.

Tsukiyama opened the door and took his leave. "Send Yoshimura my regards. Goodbye."

With the gourmet gone, the tension in the room slowly eased, allowing the staff to sigh in relief.

"Who was that guy?" Ruby asked, still somewhat uncomfortable from his antics.

"He's one of the parasites of the 20th ward." Touka explained. "Just looking at his face makes my blood boil…"

"No kidding. My fist is eager to have a date with his face now." Yang added, raising her fist to the air. "When he comes back I'll make sure he…"

"Now now, everyone..." A calm voice interrupted. Yoshimura appeared by the staff entrance the door, a gentle look on his face. "He won't be causing any trouble, as long as the doves of the ward aren't focusing on our ward."

"I hope so…" Ruby muttered.

"Oh, and Ruby?" Yoshimura added. "There are two people who would like to see you."

"Alright, who are they?" She replied.

"Yomo would like to have your weapon. He's found a client to repair it and fit it with metal that… won't break on contact with skin."

"All right!" Ruby cheered. It was a good thing she brought it today. She'd just kept it in the broom closet, seeing that it wasn't the most interesting of places to search. "I just hope he doesn't change it too much…"

Yoshimura chuckled slightly at Ruby's comment, and continued. "You can hand it to me and I'll pass it to him. After that, go see Ryouko. She'd like to speak with you."

"Understood, mister manager!"

* * *

Ruby made her way up to the meeting room. She opened the door and saw Ryouko and her child sitting by the couch, Hinami lying on her mother's lap with her eyes steeled shut. The huntress couldn't help but admire the adorable sight of the napping Hinami.

"I'm here, Mrs. Fueguchi." Ruby greeted, closing the door behind her. "What did you want to speak with me about?"

"Hello, Ruby. Come, take a seat." Ryouko greeted.

Ruby took a seat on the opposite couch, putting her hands on her lap in a polite manner.

"So, what did you want to speak with me about?"

"It's about her dad." Ryouko stated, looking down to her sleeping child. "She threw a tantrum this morning before we got here, about wanting to see her father again."

Ruby looked to Hinami as her mother pat her child on head affectionately. She never did know her their past, nor the reason they came to Anteiku.

" _Perhaps they can't hunt for food, so they come to Anteiku to have their meals. Well, it's good that they don't have to hurt anyone."_

"My husband and I are from Atlas, where he did some shady things back in the 13th ward there. He put that past behind him once Hinami was born however, and we moved to Vale to live a more peaceful life."

"Isn't Atlas one of the more… safer places on Remnant?"

"Well, you can say that…" Ryouko said. "But it's not very safe for us ghouls. The CCG offices there are practically hunting us down round the clock, Even the general of the military leads some of the operations there."

"Oh…"

"Well, I don't judge my husband for his past. It's like they say, the present is a present to treasure!"

"Hinami doesn't go to school, so I give her books for her to read and learn. She also writes down whatever she learns about in her notebook." Ruby looked over to the notebook, and picked it up. She saw several notes that Hinami wrote, one of them being about a hydrangea and how to say it in another language.

Her attention was caught by a drawing of three adorable bears, all wearing different coloured sweaters. _"This must be her family…"_ She mused.

"There's one thing I'd like you to promise me." Ryouko started.

"What is it?" Ruby replied.

"I have this… bad feeling. The doves have been searching for my husband and I, so we are at constant risk of being caught… I don't worry about what happens to me, but I worry about Hinami. If I'm gone, I can't imagine the pain she'll have to go through…"

Ryouko began to unwillingly shed some tears, but quickly wiped them away.

"If anything happens to me, promise me that you'll treat her well. Make sure Anteiku takes care of her."

"We will. We all will. I promise." Ruby reassured.

"Mom?"

Ryouko looked down to see that her child had woken up and was looking at her with concern in her eyes.

"Why are you crying?"

"Oh, it's nothing."

Ruby and Ryouko sat down in silence. They both have been through a lot, but in the end being born a ghoul is much more of a deal then transforming into one.

…

"Say, how about you follow me to get some books?"

"Oh?"

"Kaneki recommended her some books to get yesterday, and she's been begging me to get them for her." Ryouko looked down to her child. "Isn't that right, Hinami?"

"Yup! He even taught me how to read some words yesterday!" Hinami beamed. She then looked to Ruby with joyful eyes. "Let's get some books later, sis!"

Ruby didn't hesitate one bit towards the adorable little Hinami before giving her reply.

"Sure!"

* * *

Matching grey outfits adorned their skin, as they approached the said location of a notorious ghoul. They stopped by the sidewalk of the place, two of them held large briefcases while the remaining one held a rapier-like weapon.

"So this is must be the place…" Weiss commented aloud as they faced a rusty old tool shed right behind an apartment building.

"Indeed. An innocent looking tool shed in the 20th ward, how inconspicuous…" Mado muttered

"They should be here at this time from what information we recovered. He should be discussing his plans with the doctor right about…"

Suddenly, the steel walls of the tool shed was smashed open as a humanoid figure was sent flying all the way to the Investigator's feet.

"…Now." Amon finished.

"D-D-D-Doves…!? Here…!?" The injured doctor cried, his chest having sustained a grievous wound.

His cries went on deaf ears as the three looked up to the culprit of the mess.

"Well, look who it is!" Mado chuckled as the fingers holding his briefcase twitched. "One of the 13th ward's big cheeses caught meddling in the 20th ward!"

A large muscular man in a bright suit walked out unfazed by the old man's yapping, a confident smirk plastered on his face as he looked to the side.

"Get through the flunkies and you find the boss. What'd I tell you? Patience does pay off!"

"Sir… is that…?"

"Jason." Mado finished for her. "A proud member of an organisation of ghouls and, perhaps even the most sadistic of them…"

He clicked a button on his briefcase and it transformed into a turquoise rapier-like Quinque. Mado's eager grin never faded as he got into a combat stance.

"He's S-Rated, Weiss. The 13th ward's Jason. Don't take him lightly." Amon advised the young heiress. He himself activated his Quinque, and it transformed into a Red Club-like weapon.

"Jason… You'll pay for what you've done." Weiss stated as she also prepared herself. She spun the barrels of her rapier Myrtenaster, the blade now fitted with Quinque steel, and setting off Red dust within it, creating a crimson red glow from the blade.

The culprit named Jason simply continued to look to the side, show not an inch of care to the threats before him.

"I HAVE YOU KNOW JASON!"

Mado charged towards the aptly named ghoul, slicing and dicing with his Quinque over and over. The muscular ghoul simply dodged backwards with uncanny ease, amused by the investigator's petty attacks.

"JASON JASON JASON JAAAAAASSOOON! BWAHAAHAHAAAAA"

The investigator went into a mad frenzy, slashing back and forth as Jason continued to backtrack into the building. The interior of the room was completely torn apart by the Quinque. Cupboards smashed, Medical beds broken, walls torn apart, all in attempt to strike at Jason.

"I GOT YOU NOW! HAHAAHAHAAAA!"

Eventually Jason hopped back to the opening in the wall. Amon took the opportunity to strike, slamming his Quinque down onto his back.

To no avail, Jason vanished from sight quicker than their eyes could catch.

"You guys aren't half bad." The ghoul taunted by the side at a doorway, taking a glance at his watch. "I'll give you a minute or two to entertain me."

Jason then stepped backwards into the doorway, disappearing in the darkness altogether.

"Here. This will help." Weiss raised her hand and created two glyphs under the investigators, clock-like symbols spinning their hands wildly about.

"Much appreciated, young heiress!" Mado thanked. Amon gave a polite nod as his way of showing gratitude. "Now, let's hunt down that Jason!"

As Mado was speaking, Weiss caught the sight of the ghoul appearing behind Amon, and instinctively aimed her weapon towards him.

"Amon! Duck!"

The man in question did as he was told, crouching swiftly as Weiss fired dust crystals at the threat behind him, aimed directly for his grinning face.

Jason moved his head to the side, and avoided all of the fire.

Now vulnerable to attack, Amon was punched in the chest by the ghoul. He was sent sliding towards an abandoned car.

"Amon!" Weiss called out.

Leaving no time to react, Jason quickly appeared behind Weiss and grabbed her by the chest with his big meaty hand.

"Hahaha! A dove with a semblance!" He taunted as the grin on his face slowly turned into a sadistic one. "I haven't encountered one like you in months!"

Weiss struggled to break his grasp, but to no avail the ghoul was simply too strong. Jason's gaze was fixated on the young girl's face, showing his teeth in a psychotic smile.

Despite the crushing grip of his grasp, Weiss found that he was too engrossed in seeing her suffer. Without many options, the heiress did a risky move. She created a glyph under the ghoul with a free hand, and quickly detonated it.

The two were sent far apart from each other. Jason landed steadily, his hand gripping onto the ground as he slid towards the gaping hole. Weiss tumbled backwards and slided across the ground onto the fence of the sidewalk.

"Oh!? A feisty one we have here!?" He roared, enraged at being sent back by the young girl. He quickly regained his composure however, and his confident smirk returned to his face. "No matter. Semblances aren't that great anyway…"

"Which is why I have this!"

The old man slashed at the taunting Jason, making him jump back once again.

"How you holding up, Weiss?" Mado asked as he stood valiantly against Jason.

"Ugh… I'll be alright…" She muttered in pain, clutching her shoulder. "Get the bastard…"

"Without delay! Hahahaha!"

Mado frenzied at Jason with his Quinque. Jason hopped backwards to avoid the continuous attacks.

Mado, in his fury of strikes, took too much of an offensive, lost his balance. Jason ducked under the blade easily and moved forward to counterattack.

"What a shame!" He taunted as he approached the unbalanced Mado.

He simply grinned as he fell right into his trap. "Right, for you that is!"

The Quinque suddenly split into three different blades, encasing Jason within it. At his command, the blades converged back together, about to divide the ghoul into three.

Jason simply chuckled at this futile attempt.

From his back, two red and purple thorn-like tentacles appeared from his back, and stopped the Quinque from converging together. The kagune spread itself, breaking the Quinque as a whole.

"Is that all?" He taunted with an unamused look on his face.

"No! Get away!" Amon shouted as he rushed over to his mentor's side. He slammed his Quinque down to the ghoul, which only met the ground once again as he dodged the strike.

He quickly used this opportunity to jump high into the air and onto an abandoned truck.

"Looks like I've got to head back." He taunted as he glanced at his watch again. "Better luck next time."

Jason escaped, jumping up onto the highway above. The three doves regrouped and looked up to where he went, distressed at their loss.

"Darn it!" Weiss cried out, as she regrouped with the doves. "We lost him…"

"Is everyone okay?" Amon asked concerned for the well-being of his teammates.

"Oh, I'm fine." His mentor replied. He looked disappointed at his now shattered weapon. "But that bastard broke my Quinque…"

Weiss glanced over to the doctor that was sent through the wall before they fought. He struggled to get up, clutching his chest with one hand and held up a piece of paper in the other.

"Is he…" She muttered pitifully to the wounded doctor.

"A ghoul, no doubt about it." Amon finished for her. Weiss simply looked back to him, now unsure of how to feel about him.

The doctor got up to his feet, and held the picture tightly with his hand. A tail-like kagune came out from his back, making Mado look at it with awe.

"You… You are Doctor Fueguchi, are you not?" Weiss asked solemnly.

He nodded grievously.

"…As with… protocol. You must be taken down." The heiress stated. She barely held back a tear as she readied her rapier once again. The weapon glowed blue from the dust she now activated, and raised it towards the wounded ghoul.

The doctor shouted in determination as he ran forward to the heiress, intent on giving his last stand.

He sent his Kagune towards Weiss, which she parried with pitiful ease. The doctor was left defenceless and vulnerable.

"I'm sorry."

Weiss, felt a stray tear flow down her cheek as she made a downward slash with Myrtenaster.

* * *

The police showed up to examine the tool shed of the deceased ghoul. Amon and Mado were looking at the body of the ghoul in question.

"Ooh! I think that we can use this…" The old man said aloud, scanning his eyes at the corpse.

Weiss paid no attention to the two investigators, and instead held up a picture. It was the same picture that the doctor was holding onto.

A splash of dried blood covered the center of the drawing, so Weiss had to squint her eyes, to see it clearly. She found it was a drawing of three different coloured bears. The bear in the center was significantly smaller than the other two, and they all were wearing scarfs.

" _He had a family…"_ She mused.

"So he had a family? That's interesting…" Weiss heard the old man chatter about with Amon, holding up a family photo.

"They're all ghouls." Amon pointed out, looking at the picture.

"So with the father dead, there's only the mother and the daughter left." Mado stated. He looked over to the blue bag where the ghoul was kept in. "I think I have a plan to catch them…"

"What are you all talking about?" Weiss asked as she approached the two.

"Oh, we're just discussing how to go fishing!" The old man stated casually. The heiress raised an eyebrow in suspicion, which led to him giving a chuckle. "I'm just pulling your leg, heiress."

"You fought valiantly against Jason and took down the maker of his tools." Amon stated. "You've done a great job, and I believe you deserve to rest."

"Thank you, investigators." Weiss replied, giving a curtsy.

"I don't regret hosting that ghoul program thing anymore. We'll call you if we need you for more investigations, heiress. You're dismissed!" The old man Kureo Mado genuinely smiled towards the young Schnee. A grin that wasn't one of Quinque addiction, at least.

With that, Weiss left the area in a joyous mood. She's proved herself capable, especially to the Ghoul investigators.

However, despite all that she still felt herself feeling somewhat guilty. Her consciousness berated her relentlessly for taking two lives now, and she felt herself regretting some of the things she'd had done with the investigators.

But she quickly ignored all the mental flashbacks she was getting. The ghouls deserved what they were getting, and she knew it wasn't like the fanus being misjudged. All ghouls kill people, and thus they're just getting what they deserve.

" _Remember what Amon told me. What we're doing is right."_

* * *

The clouds grew darker as water began falling from the sky. It began drizzling in the late hours of the afternoon, and Ruby was glad she and Ryouko brought an Umbrella.

After work, Ruby followed Ryouko her daughter to buy a book. Interestingly enough, Hinami bought a copy of one of Sen Takatsuki's works. The Monochrome of Rainbows.

"Oh, I know what this is called!" Hinami stated as her mother opened up an Umbrella. "It's called a cloudburst! It's what happens when it begins to rain all of a sudden!"

"Well aren't you a smart little girl?" Ryouko complimented, patting her daughter on the head. "How about you ask Ruby to see if you're correct?"

"What? I'm not that good in… those kind of… stuffs…" The huntress embarrassingly admitted. "I love reading too, but not ones with super smart words like that…"

"Aww…" Hinami muttered. "Well maybe daddy will know if I'm right!"

"Hehehe, I'm sure you are anyway!"

The three walked through the streets of the 20th ward, now rather crowded with everyone leaving work at the same time. Hinami hummed a small tune as they strolled back to Anteiku. Ruby coincidently had to take the same path back to Beacon, so she decided to tag along before they parted ways.

"Hey, Ruby? You're a huntress right?" Hinami asked as they walked through the streets.

"I'm a huntress in training, actually. I haven't graduated yet." She corrected.

"Oh, so have you fought those monsters before?"

"You mean those black creatures that wear white masks?

"Yeah! I forgot what they were called though…"

"They're called Grimm, and they take the shape of animals, mostly."

"Coooooooooooool…"

Hinami's eyes went sparkling with admiration as Ruby continued to elaborate on what the Grimm were and how they defeated them.

"…And so you think of ordinary animals like wolves or bears, and enlarge them to be several times bigger than an a human, give them red eyes and a white mask with markings all over and voila! A Grimm to behold."

"Woooooow…" Hinami commented, utterly awed by Ruby's description of the beasts. "How do they smell?"

"Well… um…" Ruby was caught offguard by the seemingly random question, and tried to think of a possible comparision. "Um… Like… burnt charcoal? No not that bad um… I kinda forgot…"

Ruby inhaled a large amount of oxygen in attempt to figure out exactly how to describe a Grimm's smell. All she could muster out was the smell of the raindrops falling around them.

Ryouko smiled at the cute attempt and also took a breath. "Maybe they smell like wet leaves?"

"Nah that's just the rain… I guess. Maybe they don't have any smell?"

Hinami then took in a deep breath as well to imitate her sister, when suddenly her eyes lit up with excitement.

"I smell… something!"

"What? There can't be Grimm here, right?" Ruby questioned curiously. Did Hinami really figure out how Grimm smelt?

"No… it's not that it smells like…" She took in another deep breath and shouted out her next words. "Smells like daddy!"

"Um… your daddy is a Grimm…?" Ruby blurted out, completely lost in the girl's train of thought… or smell.

"I smell dad! Ruby! Mom! Dad's nearby!"

"What? That can't be…" Ryouko muttered.

"Wait what you… Ooooohh…" The huntress finally figured out what the excited little Hinami was so pumped up about.

Before she could continue, Hinami began pulling on her mother's hand, as she tried to bring her mom along to the scent.

"Hinami! No, wait!"

"It's daddy's scent! It's him it's gotta be him!"

"Calm down, Hinami! We'll go see him, stop trying to-" Ruby was cut short when Ryouko lost her grip on her child's hand, and the little energy-filled ghoul quickly dashed towards the scent.

"Hinami!" Ryouko cried out as her child went through the crowds of people walking in the rain.

"I'll get her!" Ruby announced as she quickly dashed towards Hinami. The young girls went through the crowd, bumping into many people. Ruby had to use her speedy semblance in order to catch up to her.

As Hinami continued to run away, she zoomed by two tall men in suits and sunglasses with a picture in hand. The young ghoul caught their attention, and they quickly followed suit.

However, behind them was another young half-ghoul who tried to use her semblance to catch up to Hinami. In her attempt to get her, she accidently bumped into one of the men in suits. They both fell to the ground with a thud and a splash, as the floor they stood on was wet from the rain.

"Ack! Ow… my chest…" Ruby muttered, clenching her chest from the impact. She looked up to see one of the suited men was also knocked down, with his partner helping him up.

"Ahh! I'm so sorry I'm trying to catch up to someone bye!" The huntress apologised as fast as her mouth could spit out those words, as she got back on her feet and continued to chase. The two suited men still followed suit.

Hinami eventually turned a corner, as the scent she smelt continued to grow stronger.

"Daddy! Daddy! I'm here Dad…"

She stopped in her tracks as she faced the origin of the smell. Ruby and Ryouko eventually caught up to her, with the former having arrived earlier.

"Hinami! That's not a good idea to… run off…" Ruby felt her spine shiver as she came face to face with two familiar suited men, carrying briefcases and holding up umbrellas. They were the ghoul investigators that Ruby saw before. Even before she even discovered what happened to her.

"Hello… Investigators…!?" Was all the young huntress could mutter. Ryouko quickly stood in front of Hinami, who was completely shocked at what she was seeing.

"That's not… That's not daddy…"

"Oh? What do we have here?" The old man wearing a grey trench coat stated. His eyes were unusual, with one almost squinted shut and the other as big as an apple. "I guess the bait has hooked us a holy mackerel. A delightful catch, so to speak."

"Sir, the one in red." His partner wearing a grey suit and a muscular form asked his partner, pointing out to the huntress with silver eyes. "Haven't we encountered her before?"

"Why, perhaps we have…" Kureo Mado replied in a solemn tone, looking down to the wet puddles on the ground. Suddenly he shot up, and shouted to the girl in question

"Greetings, huntress in training, I believe we've met before!" The white-haired man shouted to her. "You'd better back away from these two if you value your life!"

"What!?" Ruby replied. "W-W-Why's that!? These are my friends!"

"Oh? Well I'm sorry to say that perhaps your friends happen to be what one of the most hated species in all of Remnant." He stated. Mado looked to the sky with a grin that could rival even the happiest person on Remnant.

"Rain. One of the most unusual things this world has to offer. It dulls people's senses, reduces their range of vision and is quite simply annoying to deal with. But even the worst things on Remnant have their good side. It fills our rivers, cleans out pollutants and most of all…"

Mado looked back to the Fueguchi family in a sadistic smile. "It allows us to kill off the scum on Remnant, without letting anyone hear their screams..."

Hinami hid behind her mother's back, as she stood valiantly against the doves. Ruby looked behind to see the two men from earlier had pistols in their hands, cornering the three of them.

"So, if I may ask this of you, Mrs. Fueguchi." Mado stated as he looked directly into her eyes, a killing intent forming from within.

"Do you want to have a bad time?"

* * *

 _End_

 **This took 2 weeks, one week used for napping one week used for writing.**

 **So originally I wanted to follow the Anime with the Gourmet fight first, but realised the Anime has like no details for me to improvise on so... YOU GET TO SEE TSUKIYAMA AS A DRAMATIC APPEARANCE YAY**

 **Also I hope you spotted the Obligatory Undertale ref _erence._**


	11. Chapter 10: Time to Die

**== Time to Die ==**

 _~Yojne_

* * *

A loud roar bellowed across the skies, thunder booming in the distance despite the relatively calm rainfall.

"Young woman!" Amon shouted to the girl in red. "Get away from those ghouls! It's dangerous!"

"They... They aren't ghouls!" Ruby hesitantly lied as she desperately tried to convince them likewise. "I've... I've...!"

"You don't know who you're with! Come to our side! Now!"

"But... They... I've... Not...!"

"Young lady, please!"

"Enough of this!" Mado shouted in irritation as he readied his briefcase. "If the girl doesn't want to join us, let her join them in hell!"

"..." Amon could not reply to that statement, for what he said was indeed true. Should a human hold back information of possible ghoul suspects, they will be labeled as badly as criminals and will be treated as such. This allowed Mado to rightfully kill all three women he was eyeing so eagerly.

"Mommy..." Hinami muttered as she stood behind her back trembling fearfully. "I'm scared...!"

"Ms. Ryouko..." Ruby muttered as well, feeling shivers quake within her spine. "I... I don't know what to do..."

"Hinami, Ruby" She stated consolingly. "This... This is what I was fearful about..."

"I've had enough of this. Attack!" Mado commanded as he signalled with his hand. Without delay, the men at the back began firing their pistols at the women.

Suddenly, four clover-like appendages emerged from her back. The kagune revealed itself to the doves, their relatively calm texture accompanied with blood red circles in the center, giving it a look of an eye.

"That's the Kagune!" Mado exclaimed in delight. "See, what did I tell you young huntress? They're ghouls!"

Ryouko sent her Kagune spearheaded towards the old man, but he swiftly dodged backwards causing it to instead smash onto the ground. The Kagune then quickly surrounded and encased herself with the two girls, not unlike a cocoon.

Within the protective shield she created, she bent down to Hinami's level and looked her in her eyes consolingly. She put her palms on her child's face wiped off the tears that she made.

"Hinami." She said. "Run. Run fast."

"Momma…!"

"Run to Anteiku, and don't ever stop running. I'll meet you there. I promise."

"Mommy!"

The two hugged each other lovingly, putting each other's hands behind their backs. The warm embrace made Ruby shed tears, unable to look away from the motherly bond they had.

"R-Ryouko…" The huntress muttered. "I… I…"

"They still think you're human, Ruby." The mother stated, tears dripping down her cheeks. "Run to their side, and meet with Hinami at Anteiku. You can't let them know what you are."

"Ryouko…!" Ruby's teardrops soon flowed into a river, as she began crying streams down her face. "I… you…! You can't… You can't let Hinami lose you!"

The huntress knelt down to the ground in devastation, the streams of tears turning into rivers. If only she was able to use her weapon, then maybe she could defend her against the doves.

"I'll get help, Ryouko, I won't let you die… I won't…"

Ryouko let Ruby into her loving embrace, the three holding each other tightly. All three of them wished this hug would never end, but alas.

"I'm sorry. I guess you'll have to follow my promise after all."

Her eyes turned charcoal black, along with a burning red iris to match.

"Kusaba! Prepare for another round!"

"On it!"

The two men cornering them began firing their handguns at the flowing kagune cocoon, the bullets bounced off the protection, completely ineffectively. Ryouko sent her kagune to the men, using the blunt end of it to send them toppling down.

"Mom…! I don't want to leave you!" Hinami said while still holding onto her hand.

"Ryouko!" Ruby cried in disbelief as well.

"RUN! BOTH OF YOU! GET OUT OF HERE NOW!" Ryouko shouted, looking at them with her ghoulish eyes. Her own tears dripped to the floor as she was forced to let the two girls split up.

Hinami hesitantly let go of her hand, and ran off away back into the streets, dashing through the knocked out men as she traversed through the wet puddles on the floor.

Ruby cried out in dread as she made her way to the direction of the ghoul investigators. Never had she thought she would have to run to what she believed were her "heroes" in completely vain.

"Come here, young woman." Amon stated as Ruby approached the two doves while crying her eyes out. Ruby didn't stop by their side though, she ran in between them, going past them into the alleyway beyond. Amon looked back in confusion all while his partner never lifted his gaze away from the motherly ghoul.

"Let her go. It's quite a bit of a burden knowing your loving friends were man-eaters all along." The demented old man stated bitterly. "At least she wasn't trying to protect them. It would be quite troublesome having to explain killing a young huntress to the supervisor, wouldn't it Amon?"

Amon said nothing, instead readying his weapon. Pressing a button, his suitcase transformed into a big bright red club of Quinque steel.

"Perhaps."

* * *

A faint boom was heard within the dark clouds above, the clouds appearing to weep onto Remnant below. With the heavy rain occurring, Yang and Kaneki stepped out to the streets outside Anteiku with their bright yellow and pitch black umbrellas open at hand, respectively.

"Whew! What a long day of work, ain't it Neki-Ka Boy?" Yang began, stretching her shoulders backwards.

"I don't appreciate the nicknames Yang…" Kaneki mumbled, looking to the side.

"Aww, liven up eyepatch! You're just jealous Ruby got to go get some books with Hinami, instead of you."

"No, that's not it really. I just recommended her the books of Sen Tatsuki, that's all…"

"Sen again? Geez everyone loves reading his works…"

"His? The author's a woman, mind you!"

"Hee hee… I'll never understand this ward's naming cultures…"

"Maybe you should make an effort then…"

The two began marching into the watery skies, the rain pouring as heavily as ever. Yang waved cheerfully to Kaneki before turning around and heading back to Beacon, while Kaneki made his own way back home.

His umbrella shielded him from the downpour of this hour, allowing him to get through the rain and back to his beloved apartment. Kaneki took this time to ponder about yet again how everything was turning out. Ruby had accompanied Ryouko and Hinami to get the books he recommended, which left Kaneki and Yang as the only part-time workers there.

Yang was a bright optimist with a playful attitude, not unlike Enji Koma, the self-proclaimed devil ape. She would always crack some jokes, make some terrible puns and most of all, and never gave up. Despite her looking awfully different from her sister, she would do anything to protect her no matter the cost. It's why she's working in Anteiku alongside her in the first place, anyway.

Then there was Hinami, the young adorable ghoul girl. Although the first time Kaneki met her, he felt on his back in horror, they eventually got back on proper footing. Seeing that she read one of Sen Tatsuki's works, he then recommended several other works for her to indulge in. That's why they went on to get some books in this current weather, leaving with Ruby accompanying them.

" _Ruby's quite the girl, isn't she…"_ He thought to himself.

Kaneki made his way to the bustling streets of the ward, minding his own business in this crowded, pouring condition.

"Someone, help!" A faint voice cried out from the distance.

Her cry was left unheard by the half-ghoul, the sound of raindrops instead filling his ears.

"Anyone! Kaneki! Ruby!"

The boy in question stopped for a moment, as he felt as if he heard a familiar voice calling out to him.

"Hinami! I'm here! I'm here!"

"Ruby!"

Kaneki instantly recognised the distinguishable voices calling each other out. He turned to the direction it echoed from and saw two girls hugging each other in the middle of the street.

"I'm here for you, Hinami, I'm here…"

"Ruby… Mom's still… Mom's still…!"

The half-ghoul widened his eyes as he saw his friends, Ruby and Hinami, both of them appearing to be panicked and helpless beyond belief. He had to see what was going on over there.

"Ruby! Hinami!" He yelled across the street. The two girls in question looked to their side to see the half-ghoul with his eyepatch and an umbrella in hand.

Kaneki took a deep breath and dashed across the street, his feet splashing into tiny puddles forming on the road. Cars left and right honked their horns as they approached the jaywalking boy, but he was able to make it across relatively swift and carefully.

He ran to the two and quickly bent down to the two girls' level, and quickly asked what's going on

"Ruby! Hinami! What happened!?" He shouted.

"It's Mom! She's in trouble!" Hinami hastily explained.

"The doves! They've got her cornered!"

"What!? Where is she!?"

Hinami pointed to the direction she ran from, and the three quickly ran there in haste.

* * *

Ryouko panted heavily, kneeling on the floor in fatigue as the men in coats looked at her without remorse.

"Well, you're a pathetic fighter." Mado taunted with a sly grin. "A kagune such as yours could level an entire squad. Trust me I've seen it happen."

He chuckled in amusement, his grip on his briefcase getting tighter and tighter.

"Monster such as you laying your life down for your children, sparing your meal when you had the perfect opportunity to eat them, and even being unable to fight back against me? It's either ghouls these days are getting slobber or I'm just getting too good at my job."

* * *

The three continued to run back to where Hinami pointed, splashes created by their hasty footsteps.

"It's all my fault… I don't have my weapon on me so I can't do anything to protect them!

"It simply sickens me to see you mimic human emotions." Mado continued, his iconic smile going unfazed by the motherly ghoul. "If you intend to become an actor you'd better think twice in hell. All you do is kill and kill, just like your animalistic cousins!"

"Don't blame yourself Ruby!" Kaneki shouted as they continued to run. "She would have wanted you to protect Hinami first!"

"I… I… I…" Ruby mumbled. The fellow half-ghoul wasn't wrong to say that at least.

" _I… am such a hypocrite…"_ Kaneki thought to himself.

* * *

"Amon, go catch your breath. I've got this under control." Mado giggled to himself as he set his briefcase down on the floor. He opened it slowly and carefully to ensure it would cause the most emotional trauma to the poor defenceless mother.

"I've got to do something, at least!" Ruby stated desperately. "I can't just watch Ryouko fight them alone!"

"But you don't have your weapon, and I don't have any combat experience!"

"But we can't just watch her suffer!"

"Oh my… god…" Ryouko widened her eyes in complete and utter horror as Mado revealed what the big surprise was.

"YES YES YES! BWAH HAH HAH HAAAA!" he cried in pleasure as he released his weapon.

A long stretch of kagune was taken out of the briefcase, reeling out in all its glory. The quinque in a whole had individual segments stitched together to form one very long whip, the end of the weapon having a sharp hook.

"As…Asaki…"

"Anger, anguish, fury, helplessness and sorrow, those are the expressions I like to see!" Mado chanted in glee. "Let me see your hatred, let me see you suffer!"

* * *

Kaneki, Ruby and Hinami eventually made their way to where Ryouko was, behind the investigators.

"MO-mmmphhh!"

Immediately, Kaneki put his hand over Hinami's mouth before she could call out her mother, and the three hid behind the corner of the alleyway. Ruby especially felt herself shiver in fear, she knew had to do something, but she just could not think of any ideas.

"But don't worry I'm not all that sadistic. I'll be courteous for you since you spared the child." Mado began, wiping the raindrops off his forehead. "How about it mom, any last words to say?"

Ruby began to step out of the hiding spot slowly. Kaneki tried to reach out for the huntress to stop, but to no avail she eventually stood in plain sight behind the doves, tears dripping down her eyes.

"Ryouko!" She called out in the open, grabbing the attention of the first-class investigators.

"Young woman!" Amon called out in relief.

"Ahh, the junior Huntress! Come join us, and see this monster tell her final tale."

Ryouko remained still, her fringe covering her watery eyes. Ruby just had to do something, anything!

"Please… Investigators…" She hesitantly began. "Don't… kill her…"

Mado stopped himself from his bloodlust to blink, somewhat unsure of what the young girl just said. "I'm sorry, what did you say?"

"Don't… Don't kill her!" Ruby proclaimed valiantly. Everyone looked to the huntress in disbelief, especially the motherly ghoul being cornered.

"Excuse me?" Mado exclaimed in confusion, turning to face the huntress. "Has your brain gone coo-coo? Don't you kill monsters for a living? Why spare this little insect?"

"Please… Don't… I'm begging you…"

"RUBY! GET OUT OF HERE!" The wounded motherly ghoul exclaimed in a panicked frenzy.

"I hear she's spoken her last will, do you want to speak yours?" Mado threatened eerily, slowly walking up towards the huntress, making Ruby step backwards cautiously. "Don't interrupt my fun, dear. I have all rights to kill you for withholding information of ghouls, so don't test me."

"MMMMPHHHH!"

Kaneki continued to hold onto Hinami's mouth as they continued to stay out of sight. He just couldn't do anything to save Ryouko, and with Ruby acting the way she was, he could only feel utterly helpless to the situation.

Ruby was in a big pickle here, with the investigators appearing to have no intention of giving mercy. A lump in her throat manifested itself as she realised she had no plan on how to save Ryouko. With her brain unable to think of any ideas, Ruby decided to do a selfless decision.

"Then, if that's the case." Ruby stated, lifting her arms up to her sides. "Kill me."

Mado eyed Ruby wearily, the grip on his Fueguchi Quinque growing tighter by the second.

"Young woman, don't be reckless!" Amon called out. "We're protecting the people from monsters like her, why do you want to save them!?"

"Because people like her don't deserve to die!"

"So what are you saying, you deserve to die?" Mado stated in annoyance. "Please don't be so pathetic."

"Ruby, please…" Ryouko could only mutter helplessly.

"In that case, I deserve to die!" Ruby proclaimed. "Kill me for withholding information of ghouls!"

"Well, this is quite the dilemma…" Mado groaned in irritation. "Seriously, don't joke with me. Why are you trying so hard to protect her? You don't happen to be a ghoul yourself, are you?"

Ruby felt a shiver go up her spine in the already cold weather, instinctively gulping in fear. She took a deep breath of the wet air, and began to answer the investigator.

"Well… maybe I a-"

" **STOP!** "

Ruby was interrupted by the loud voice proclaim itself. Everyone turned to the fatigued ghoul kneeling on the wet floor, weeping furiously under the already bad weather.

"Just… end my life. Don't kill the innocent child."

"MMMPHHHHH!" Kaneki still held on to the struggling Hinami as the tension just took a turn for the worse.

"Hahaha, innocent child?! Does everyone happen to be a clown here?" Mado unusually cheered to the sky, which turned into a sour scowl to the floor. "Well I hate clowns! Enough of this bad theatre play!"

Mado whipped his quinque around and about furiously, ending it with a slam to the ground. "You're all just making me so sick. Truly giving up your life for your prey? I'm going to vomit at this point!"

He turned to Amon in an enraged frenzy, his face showing exactly how pissed off he was. "What do you suggest, Amon? Kill them all?"

"…" He said nothing at the irritated mentor, nodding his head instead.

"Excuse me, sir!" An investigator from behind Ryouko called out. "Perhaps, capturing her is the best course of action at this point." Kusaba suggested.

Ruby's eyes widened at this revelation, and she followed through with the dove's suggestion. "Don't kill her, capture her! She doesn't deserve death, only life in p-prison…!"

Mado squinted his eyes in irritation. "Eh? Really now…?"

"Y-Yes sir! She may have information pertaining to the um, other ghouls in the ward… Like the Gourmet!" Ruby explained hastily.

Mado looked to the sky and put his quinque down in ease. "Heh, why didn't I think of that… Amon! Get the RC suppressors and handcuffs. We're taking her into custody."

The first-class investigator did as he was told, pulling out a pair of handcuffs and an empty syringe. He handed the items over to his mentor, who got a small test tube filled with black liquid from his coat's pocket.

He swiftly brought the syringe down onto Ryouko's shoulder, causing her to twitch in pain. Mado groaned at the little emotion she showed.

"You'd best thank your little prey over there. If not for her you'd be dead where you stand." He threatened.

Her kagune slowly faded away, as the drug took effect. Ryouko smiled in relief, before she felt most of her energy fade away from the RC suppressor.

With Ryouko captured, the investigators began walking off into the alleyway, going past the huntress. Mado stopped to look at the huntress wearily and angrily, making Ruby attempt to keep a straight face.

"Heheh, I like you." He said venomously, making Ruby flinch back instinctively. "People like you should be detained as well for withholding and protecting such foul monsters, but I'll spare you the prison life. I've already got a huntress under my wing myself, so I'll grant you the benefit of doubt. Your headmaster might not like the news though, young huntress."

With that, the four investigators escorted the motherly ghoul through the alleyway. Ruby caught a glimpse of Ryouko taking a peek at her, genuine relief shown on her face.

The investigators soon disappeared into the alleyway, their prisoner captured and their leader's bloodlust unsatisfied. The rain also seemed to cease, with the clouds beginning to depart, allowing individual rays of sunlight to shine onto the damp ground.

Kaneki and Hinami came out of their hiding spot, the latter still teary eyed from the whole encounter.

"Ruby…" Kaneki muttered

"Ruby!" Hinami jumped out and held onto Ruby, giving her a warm hug. The huntress knelt down and returned the hug, embracing Hinami.

"Mommy's captured now…" The ghoul child moaned.

"It's okay, Hinami. Your mother is still alive, and that's the important thing." The half-ghoul reassured, patting her back. "It's gonna be fine."

"...Mommy…" She sniffed.

Kaneki smiled as the two girls lovingly comforted each other. He looked to the direction the investigators took and felt somewhat relieved, despite her being taken into custody.

" _It's feels weird though, as if something worse was supposed to happen…"_ He thought to himself. He turned back to Ruby and Hinami, the former looking at him with a relieved smile, while the latter continued to cry her heart out.

" _Then, again… It's all cause of Ruby…"_

* * *

" _Damn…"_ The raven-haired ghoul sighed while in her thoughts. _"I really did screw up…"_

Touka strolled through the streets, her hands in her pockets, in shame. "Damn classic literature and its damn double meaning bull…" She mumbled to herself.

The morning sun had not fully risen yet, The exterior of Anteiku not colored yellow this time. Touka walked to the entrance casually like she would every other day, but today it seemed that it was unusually quiet.

"Closed? Nobody told me today was a day off…" She murmured.

The doorbell chimed as Touka entered Anteiku, surprised to see neither customers nor waiters around. Only by the coffee bar was the manager of Anteiku, wiping an empty cup with a towel.

"Good morning…" She greeted.

"Good morning." Yoshimura replied in an unusually solemn tone.

"So um, I think you left the sign the other way." She said, pointed behind her. "But there's something a little more important um… I failed my test-"

"Touka." The manager interrupted.

"Yes sir?"

"Would you mind coming upstairs with me?"

"…Um, sure."

Five people sat by the couches in the meeting room, the curtains blocking the orange light created by the now rising sun. Kaneki, Ruby, Koma, Irimi, and Yang. All of them had dismayed looked upon their features, which made Touka feel somewhat unsettling about what this was all about.

"Even Yomo…" Touka muttered, looking at the white-haired man crossing his arms by the side. Her own face took a turn for the serious. "What happened."

"Ryouko was captured by the investigators while trying to protect Hinami." The old manager explained.

"…"

Touka couldn't say anything at this but clench her fists. She could feel her knuckles crack in pain as her blood began to slowly heat up. She instinctively wanted to slam her fist against the wall, but thought against it.

"What… the hell…" She said. "What about Hinami, how's she doing…?"

"She's resting by the other room."

"Then the doves, did they see her face!?"

"…They did."

"This… this is bullshit…" Touka dropped and knelt on the floor, overwhelmed by the intake of news. Now that Hinami was an identified ghoul, and she would not be able to roam the streets freely.

"For now, I've decided that Hinami will be sheltered at Anteiku, with us." Yoshimura began. "But, when the time is right, I'll send her to the 24th ward."

Touka shot up from the floor at what she just heard. "The hell? That shithole? Are you kidding or are you kidding!?"

"You know what? We should just kill the doves! Kill them before they can find Hinami, kill them so that they would get the hell out of our lives!"

She looked to Yomo and continued. "I mean, Yomo's here too! With our combined strength we'll easily kill them all!"

" **No."**

"…What…"

"If we take the lives of the doves, they'll start focusing on our ward. They'll send more to clean up the warlike ghouls here, and even if we do kill them, they'll just send more and more until we're wiped out." Yomo explained. "Understand?"

"But…"

"As with what Yomo said, we cannot, and must not try to interfere with them. In due time, the doves here will be sent to other wards. We must not cause a scene for the safety of everyone here. It's the best course of action for now."

"Best? Stop joking with me old fool." Touka scorned. "Hinami's family has been taken away from her, and all you've got to say is to suck our thumbs and pray?"

Touka looked to Ruby with a gaze that stared daggers. "It's probably cause of that Weiss bitch, isn't it? She gave the info on where her parents were, didn't she?"

Ruby could only looked down to the floor and close her eyes, very shameful of what the ghoul was accusing her friend for.

"Don't push the blame! We don't even know if she did anything here!" Yang defended.

"Then you should've stopped her from joining them in the first place!" Touka shouted. "It's so bloody pathetic, all of this! So let's stop being pathetic and kill them already!"

"…We will not." Yoshimura repeated. "It's not pathetic to let them to get away."

"The only pathetic thing is to be consumed by your hatred and vengeance, unable to even live your life once more."

Touka grit her teeth and gazed at the manager furiously. "Are you talking about me?" She scorned.

Yoshimura did not reply, instead changing the subject. "We should be grateful that Ruby managed to convince them to capture her, if anything."

"That doesn't change the fact that she's been taken from Hinami!" Touka stormed out of the room, shoving the door on her way out in utter rage. Kaneki and Ruby turned their heads to see Touka disappear into the hallway.

Silence returned yet again, only to be broken by the manager.

"Don't fret about it. She has a lot of things to think about." He reassured. "Koma, Irimi, I believe you've already received the photos of the doves involved."

"Yes, we have."

"Don't even think about getting involved with them." Yoshimura warned. "Please urge our ghoul customers to take caution as well."

* * *

Anteiku was still empty at the hour, with no sign of any customers possibly entering today. It was to be expected; Yoshimura declaring today would be a day off for all of them.

Ruby and Kaneki still stood at the coffee bar however, the former arranging some dishes while the latter simply looking down to the table. The two half-ghouls were both displeased with all of this, especially Kaneki having done literally nothing for Ryouko. The least they could do now was to clean up the place to get their minds off the whole ordeal

"It's not your fault." Yoshimura began. The two half-ghouls turned to the side to see the manager walk by. "Even we are hesitant to face off against an investigator, yet the two of you were able to protect Hinami at her request."

"But… I could've done more…" Kaneki admitted. "Ruby was the one that stood up for her, while I simply held Hinami behind a corner…"

"If only we knew what was going on. I'm sorry."

"Sir, may I ask something of you?" Ruby began.

"Yes?"

"Train me to use my Kagune. I'm hopeless without my weapon, so I need to know at least how to fight as you all do."

Yoshimura smiled at her bright demeanour, and pat Ruby on the shoulder. "I can see you get over things well. I'll find a suitable tutor for you; maybe it'll even be Touka?"

"Thanks, sir." She replied. "Oh! Also how goes my baby Crescent Rose?"

"The weapon has been fit with Quinque, along with some rounds of Q-Bullet to go. I think you'll be quite satisfied with it. Yomo will return it to you either tomorrow or the day after.

"Yippie!" She jumped in joy.

Kaneki could only glance over to the huntress and feel hopeless. The huntress was very optimistic, unlike him who could only sit there while everything passes. The half-ghoul also decided to change something for once.

"Sir, may I be trained on how to fight too?" He asked.

The manager chuckled at the determination the half-ghouls here had in them. "Consider it done."

* * *

Five people sat by the couches in the open, a bright orange light created by the sun shining from the window, as they discussed their plans and what they've accomplished.

"The daughter of number 723 still roams free, sir." Kusaba stated, adjusting his glasses. "Number 748 still poses a threat."

"Other than that, there are no more major leads to go on in the 20th ward, sir." His comrade, a clean-shaved man by the name Nakajima stated.

"Good to know..." The demented looking investigator commented, looking at the files. "There appears to be no more major threats roaming about this ward. It may be nigh time before we're sent to another."

He looked to his partner, Amon and gave a sly smile. "You wouldn't have anything else to go on, Amon?"

"No sir." He replied. "It would be best to search for other threats now. The gourmet, the betrayer and the binge eater still roam freely around Vale."

"How about you, Ms. Schnee?" Mado asked the relatively quiet heiress.

"Nothing, sir. It's best we follow Amon's idea. We might be able to find number 745 while doing so."

"It's settled then!" The mentor proclaimed with a grin. "We'll search for the three big bosses around here, The Binge Eater, Betrayer and the Gourmet."

Mado looked at Kusaba, Nakajima and Weiss with an appreciative look. "I believe you've all done quite well in hunting down both of these pesky ghouls, and under three days as well! Your co-operation is appreciated, Kusaba and Nakajima. Headquarters will get you some rewards for your hard working efforts."

"Thank you sir!" The two proclaimed diligently. Mado sighed under his breath however, in reality he was still unsatisfied with only capturing the motherly ghoul, but he could wait. Instead, he would have to take pleasure killing the three big cheeses instead, and there was always that bottom feeder if nothing else.

"Weiss, I believe this is where your program comes to an end." Mado stated. "You're always welcome to join us at the CCG, though."

"Thank you for the offer sir, but I don't… I don't think I'm quite ready for investigations." She replied

"What? You've done quite a lot, you know. Heck, you can accompany us even without being an investigator."

"I'll stay at beacon and train to become a huntress." Weiss stated. "Ghoul hunting isn't just for me, I guess… I prefer hunting Grimm."

"Eh, If I can't change a Schnee's mind nothing will…" Mado nonchalantly commented, earning a pout from the heiress. "Hehe, don't worry. I'll get you a reward too, Ms. Schnee. In the meantime why don't you spend some time with these two young fellows? They could sure know a thing or two about fighting."

"I'll think about it…"

"Hehe, just don't die before that. Soon, we'll all be basking in the glory that is victory…" Mado stated, looking to the side in glee.

* * *

After the meeting, Amon headed off alone back to his apartment. He stood by a local noodle store putting a hand on his stomach, feeling somewhat hungry.

" _Should I eat dinner first, or get home and prepare a meal…"_ He thought to himself.

"Amon!" a friendly voice called out to him. He looked to see Kusaba, Weiss and Nakajima walking towards him, with the former waving out to him.

"Hello there, men." He greeted formally. "What brings you here?"

"Oh, we were just talking with Ms. Schnee about CCG stuff, trying to convince her to join us you know?" Kusaba said. He looked back to the heiress with a friendly smile. "Isn't that right, Weiss?"

"I guess…" She muttered.

"So you did join them in the end." Amon stated.

"Well… I guess I'm gonna return to Beacon so, why not spend my last day with these guys?" Weiss answered. "They're sympathetic enough to spare Ms. Fueguchi anyway."

"Why don't we have a meal here? It has some pretty good ramen." Nakajima said, looking to the store.

"Well, okay then." The first-class investigator replied selflessly.

The four entered the food store and sat by the table. The kind old storeowner greeted the four and politely asked what they would like to eat.

"I'll have regular shrimp set but add a handful of chicken meat in it as well." Nakajima ordered.

"That again, eh?" His friend Kusaba commented mischievously

"Oh, shut up man." He retorted.

"Large shrimp and vegetables." Amon stated quickly and clearly. Weiss was the only one who have not ordered yet, her eyes scanning through the menus above.

"Hmm…" She hummed. Noodles, Shrimps, Vegetables and others, the heiress just couldn't make up her mind.

"Surprise me." Weiss said, making the storeowner give a hefty chuckle. He went into the kitchen where he cooked up the meals. Not long after he gave them bowls of what they ordered, allowing them to eat. Weiss was handed a bowl of ramen noodles with a small packet of sushi, in particular.

"So… Amon." Kusaba started. "You came out through the academy, right?"

"Uhh, yeah." He replied.

"I've always wondered what sort of stuff they teach back there… Mind telling me about it?"

"It's mostly the law and how it pertains to ghouls. Other than that, it's some weightlifting and exercise." Amon took a sip out of a glass of water and continued. "I can't go into further detail. Sorry."

"Did you train with any ladies, like Weiss over there?" Kusaba asked boldly.

"Zip it Kusaba…" Nakajima said in irritation. Weiss merely just rolled her eyes and continued her meal.

"Of course I did." Amon stated. "Two strong-willed women who were as sharp as they come."

"Whoa, how lucky!" Kusaba proclaimed. "Did you fall for any of them…?"

"Moron! Shut up!" Nakajima yelled. Weiss turned her head to Kusaba in annoyance as well.

"They were killed in the line of duty." Amon replied solemly.

"…Oh…" Kusaba mumbled. Everyone felt somewhat down after hearing such a tragic end, Kusaba especially. He felt very regretful of being so nosy

"That's just how it is. The more earnest they are, the more likely they'll end up in the dirt…"

Amon put down the empty bowl of his meal and walked out of the food store. "I'll get going now. Stay safe people, especially during times like these."

"Goodbye." "See ya." "Later." Weiss, Kusaba and Nakajima said as Amon closed the door on his way out.

"Way to go, jerk." Nakajima groaned, punching his partner in the shoulder lightly.

"Yeap, my bad. Sorry…"

Weiss didn't bother saying anything else and continued to eat her meal.

* * *

Now, the sun shone dimly through the sky, the relatively calm evening making the walk back rather nice. The two partners walked forwards side by side chatting unanimously, while the white-haired heiress strolled loosely behind, looking to the ground.

"The more earnest they are, the more likely they end up in the dirt, eh?" Kusaba repeated. "Maybe Amon was telling us not to work too hard."

"Don't be stupid." Nakajima replied. "We're gonna get a lot of work to do soon, especially with the recent events popping up. The Binge Eater, The Gourmet, The Betrayer, heck even Jason is popping up around here."

"I'm just saying that we shouldn't take it so hard. The guys at the home-office can pick up the slack for us."

"Dude, keep up that attitude and you'll be grazing the branch off us for life. Heck even the both of us will."

"Maybe that's for the best, I mean look at Amon. He seems to work off purely based on a sense of justice, don't you think?"

"Yeah, can't really argue with that."

Kusaba stopped and looked back in his partner. "Amon's pretty amazing isn't he?"

Nakajima put his hand on his shoulder in comfort. "Well, you've got a long way to go before you'll ever be among his ranks."

The two looked back at the relatively quiet heiress strolling behind. "Hey, what's with the sour mood, Ms. Schnee?" Kusaba asked. "Got something on your mind?"

"Oh…?" Weiss was snapped out of her trance and looked up to the two of them. "It's nothing, really. I'm just… I've got some things to consider about the CCG and ghouls…"

"Hmm? What about them?" Kusaba asked.

"Since I'm a huntress in training, I'm expected to learn how to fight against monsters. The Grimm are pretty much all we've fought until now. Fighting ghouls is much more different than Grimm, in a way."

"Nah, both of them are the same anyway. They're basically evil stuffed into bodies, you know?" Nakajima stated. "The Grimm are pretty much evil animals, and the ghouls are no different, evil humans, if we can even call them that."

"There are other ways of dealing without killing, I guess. I mean I was the one that suggested we capture number 723." Kusaba stated. "I don't really ponder about this too much. I mean, in the first place I joined the CCG to find a nice comfortable desk to sit behind."

"You have your points but still…" Weiss stated, her mood still looking quite down. "I've already killed some ghouls myself, but it just doesn't seem right if we have to kill for the most part."

"We can't really sympathise with man-eaters, right? I mean Amon's sense of justice is what drives him to hunt them down, so…"

"Ah, forget it." Weiss blurted out. "Let's just continue walking."

As she said, the three resumed walking through the orange-lit streets that the evening sun coloured with its rays. They headed under an underpass, which is where Kusaba began rambling once again.

"All I can really say, is that Amon's driven attitude and determination really pumps me up."

Faint footsteps could be heard from behind them, but no one really bat an eye while walking through it.

"Perhaps, I'll try to be as heroic as he is. I'll save someone's life, yeah…" Kusaba repeated to himself. "I'll save someone's life and be a decent ghoul investigator."

Weiss could only smile at the determination the man with glasses shown. Perhaps he would indeed save someone's life.

The footsteps became louder and louder, as if someone was approaching the three.

"I've got some tips in becoming heroic, albeit poor. I could give them to you if you'd like."

Kusaba looked back with a smug look as he began his reply. "No thanks, I'd like to learn them the hard-"

Kusaba stopped himself as he was a figure in a purple hood dashing towards the heiress. His instincts quickly kicked into motion, and before he knew it he was already doing something heroic.

"WEISS! LOOK OUT!" Nakajima shouted.

The heiress looked behind her to see a hand about to claw its way into her face.

Instinctively, she closed her eyes as the nails were about to make contact with her.

Before she even knew it, however, she was quickly shoved to the side. Weiss was sent tumbling onto the wall, knocking onto it with a soft thud.

"What the hell just…" Weiss opened her eyes to see Kusaba stand still in her place, his glasses ominously breaking.

"K-Kusaba…?" Nakajima muttered with extreme shock and concern.

The former ghoul investigator fell to the floor.

"KUSABA!"

"Oh my god…" Weiss could only stare in shock at the scene that happened before her. The culprit looked at the corpse in silence, a Rabbit mask covering its features.

"You… YOU MONSTER!" The partner cried out.

Immediately, the rabbit mask dashed towards Nakajima, intent on giving him the same fate. Weiss couldn't get up in time to save him, and she could only watch in complete and utter horror.

Out of nowhere, Nakajima was saved by Amon. He quickly pushed Nakajima out of the way, before he himself rolled over and faced the Rabbit-mask.

"Get out of here, now!" The first class investigator commanded, standing up against the perpetrator. Nakajima did as he was told, running far away from the rabbit and disappearing from sight.

Weiss got up to see The purple hooded murderer face off against her comrade, Amon. She looked at the bloody remains that was Kusaba, and shed a tear at his loss.

" _In the end you did do something heroic after all. Rest in peace, Ippei Kusaba."_ Weiss momentarily closed her eyes in grief of such a tragedy. She quickly reopened them with a vengeful intent, gazing at the purple-hooded figure with a look that could spearhead knives.

Weiss summon a glyph behind her and readied her trusty rapier. Myrtenaster in hand, she stepped back onto the glyph, which sent her flying toward intent on destroying the cold blooded murderer.

"You'll pay for what you've done, you despicable creature."

* * *

 _End_

 _..._

 _..._

 _...?_

* * *

 _Meanwhile… in a reclusive part of Vale…_

* * *

Candlelight filled the room, revealing many elegant books being placed on shelves, refined walls and their beautiful designs, and a table in the very center, the candle placed between two plates of steak.

"Well, I suppose that's true." An elegant voice commented, his neat purple hair and suit giving him a refined aura. "Then again…"

"Don't sweat it pal." A charismatic voice reassured. A white suit adorned his body, a bowler hat covering most of his bright orange hair. The fringe covered his right eye completely however, while wielding a cane in his hand. "She's what we call… delicious."

"Oh, you crack me up, Roman. I've always assumed negotiations between us would be peaceful."

"But she is! You fret too much, Tsukiyama. How about I give you a clearer image of what I'm bringing up."

With a wave of a hand, a new figure entered the room. A small young lady with bright colours entered. She wore a white jacket with a pink interior, brown pants, and grey boots adorned high heels. Multitude of necklaces hung haphazardly around her neck, and the colour of her flowing hair was split between pink and brown, the same going for her eyes.

Tsukiyama could only gaze and grin in amusement at the elegant young woman before him. "What an adorable young lady! Now I see why you'd want me to try some Ice Cream."

Roman chuckled. "What'd I tell ya? Meet Neo, my trustworthy associate. A cutie with a sense of fashion, you've got to love her."

The young lady blinked, and the colours of her eyes swapped.

"I can see this being of use to me. But may I ask, is there anything more than meets the eye for this young lady?"

The charming criminal grinned in excitement. "Oh, you'll see soon enough. Let's just say, the doctor has seen her."

* * *

 _End...!_

 **TWO WEEKS 7000ish WORDS OH GWARSH.**

 **Please review! I need the feedback, like really. Writer's block is blocking me every other day.**

 **Let me leave you with a random statement:**

 _ **You may try to reduce the losses, but in the end someone's gonna hit the hay.**_

 **See you in two/three weeks.**


	12. Chapter 11: Enough

**== Enough ==**

~Reviews appreciated

* * *

Weiss charged to the rabbit-masked murderer with her Quinque-fitted rapier, shouting a vengeful battlecry for the loss of a comrade.

The ghoul quickly tumbled to the side, making Weiss stab at only the air. The heiress dropped to the ground, doing a forward roll to keep her composition. The ghoul was now surrounded by an unarmed Amon, and a furious Weiss.

Leaving no time to get their bearings, the ghoul quickly unleashed a flurry of blows onto the first-class investigator. Amon dodged and blocked, being forced to move backwards in defense. The ghoul did a sweep with her leg, which Amon jumped over. While he was in the air, he had no chance to defend himself from a fist approaching his face.

"Amon!" Weiss yelled.

The first-class investigator was sent him tumbling towards the wall by the forceful impact of the ghoul's punch. His back knocked against the wall, making him grunt in pain and fall to the floor.

"You're fight's with me, monster!" The heiress proclaimed.

Weiss summoned another glyph behind her, which she quickly used to send her forward to the rabbit-masked murderer.

Amon's vision was blurred as he recovered from the impact. He could only see the faint colours of red and blue clash together in the evening sun.

"Ugh…!" He grunted as a sharp pain was felt on his left eye. It appeared that the punch very much affected his left eye's ability to see. He squinted his eyes anyway in order to see exactly what was going on.

The ghoul jumped very high into the air, a feat that no normal human could do without help. Weiss looked up to see a streak of red flames flare out from its back.

 _"That kagune… An Ukaku type ghoul!"_

The kagune made the ghoul looked like it had wings of flame, which only made Weiss grunt in irritation. The ghoul suddenly shot out a barrage of red crystals from the wings, all aimed towards the heiress below.

Weiss quickly formed a glyph infront of her to block off the barrage, the glyph began to crack and wear off as more and more crystals were sent, until finally the make-shift shield broke. Weiss quickly hopped backwards to avoid the rest of the crystals.

Leaving no time to waste, the wings of the ghoul hardened into a crystal blade, and the ghoul quickly dropped down from above with the blade ready to slice at the heiress. Weiss just barely managed to dodge to the side.

As the ghoul landed, it sent its knee up to the heiress's chin. Weiss was unable to react quickly in time, as the knee made contact. She grunted as her jaw felt a sting of pain and was sent falling backwards.

Weiss fell to the ground, dazed from the blow. The ghoul lifted its right hand up, and the fingernail of the hand slowly turned blood red. The ghoul then slashed at the heiress, to which she closed her eyes hoping her aura allow her to endure the blow.

The sound of a metallic chain rustling filled the air instead. The rabbit-masked murderer looked up only to have her mask get grazed by a whip-like kagune.

The ghoul was knocked backwards tumbling to the floor, leaving Weiss somewhat shocked and relieved at the same time. She turned her head behind to see a familiar grin on a man with white hair.

"Well well, what do we have here?" Mado questioned as he casually strolled forward with his Whip-like Quinque in hand. "It's quite valiant of you to take on this ghoul by yourself, but perhaps there's some things better left to the professionals."

"Mister Mado!" Weiss called out in joy. The sight of a helping hand gave the heiress the much needed hope she was missing.

"Now now, no need to get touchy." Mado looked to the dazed Amon holding his left eye in pain. "How do you do, Amon?"

"F-Fine… Thanks for coming." He replied.

"At least Weiss here bothered to carry her weapon along. You need to have your Quinque with you at all times, don't forget it."

"Yes sir."

"Now… Allow me to partake in this dance."

Mado sent his Quinque towards the ground the knocked-out ghoul stood on. The ghoul, despite taking the blow from earlier, was able to swiftly recover and dodge to the side. The Quinque then ricocheted from the floor into the sky. The ghoul jumped up and used the Quinque to propel herself onto a nearby electric cable.

"Oh! Hahaha!" Mado began, his lips curling upwards in an impressed smile. "You're a nimble one, aren't you? Well this is gonna be fun!"

The investigator examined at the rabbit-masked ghoul with a thoughtful look. "Hey, I get it! You're buddies with that ghoul we captured! I almost forgot her name, Fueguchi was it? That pathetic whelp was about to meet the end of my blade, but I was interrupted by some student."

Mado's eyes widened, as his brain thought of a logical explanation. "Ahh, I get it! You're in cahoots with that Ruby girl as well! It was all an elaborate plan, wasn't it?"

Weiss was surprised to hear the name of her friend and gave a puzzled look at the first-class investigator _"Ruby…?"_

"I always knew there was something wrong with her actions, defending that disgrace of a monster. She even offered her life to save her! I didn't even believe it myself!" Mado recalled. "But now that you've gone and took out one of our men, perhaps now I regret not simply slicing off that She-ghoul's head. An eye for an eye as they say, am I right!?"

The ghoul began to grunt in boiling anger as she clenched her fists. Mado simply laughed sadistically as he knew he struck a nerve in the ghoul.

"Hah, you know what? I'll think I'll grant mercy to the supposed family of ghouls…" He stated. "I'll send them all rotting to hell, reuniting the dear family where their kind are all supposed to be!"

 **"You sick bastard!"** The ghoul spluttered out, surprisingly having a feminine tone under the mask.

The ghoul launched herself and unleashed her Ukaku wings. The kagune unleashed another barrage of crystals, but they were easily deflected by Mado's Quinque. As the ghoul landed, she slashed at Mado with her kagune, but yet again he evaded it with ease.

"Well, isn't this a good time to recap on your lessons, dearie?" Mado stated while dodging the strikes from the rabbit-masked ghoul. "Come on, Weiss. Tell me how Ukaku ghouls work."

Weiss found her eyes opening with astonishment as she saw the old man able to dodge the punches and blows the ghoul made all while asking her to describe how the foe functions.

"Ukaku ghouls strike with speed and swiftness, hoping to take down the enemy quickly and effectively." She described as the experienced investigator continued to evade.

Eventually the ghoul attempted a kick to the face, but Mado swiftly ducked leaving the two of them a distance away from each other.

"Very good!" He said while the ghoul began to pant from exhaustion. "Once they've used up their stamina, their as easy as a piece of cake!"

Mado then swept the floor with his Quinque, tripping the ghoul and making her fall to the floor. He walked up to her with a boastful grin on his features.

"Now about your ghoul friend, she had a kid didn't she?" Mado questioned the ghoul. "Be a good sport and tell me where she is. The poor thing must be so lonely, her father dead and her mother captured. All I want to do is to reunite the family, preferably in hell!"

 **"DAMN YOU!"** The ghoul shouted in anger, getting up from the floor and charging towards Mado.

With a sly grin, the investigator expertly recalled his Quinque back, slashing the rabbit-mask in the left shoulder. The ghoul cried in pain as she felt the weapon graze and tear apart her flesh.

"Hardly a challenge, haha!" The investigator taunted. The ghoul stumbled onto the ground once again, clutching the area where she was cut.

"I've sent more monsters back to the graveyard than you could ever feast on in a lifetime." Mado stated, approaching the wounded ghoul. "With that, ilk like you can hardly be considered a threat to me!"

He whipped his Quinque to the ghoul one last time, intent on finishing her off for good. The ghoul however managed to recover in time, and hopped away, using the electricity cables as ground to inhumanly jump into the air, up and over several buildings further than the Quinque could reach.

"…Damnit." Mado cursed under his breath as he recalled his Quinque back. "I'll remember you, little rabbit."

As the rabbit disappeared, Weiss approached the first-class investigator with a concerned look on her face. "Mister Mado."

"Hmmph." He grunted, still upset at the ghoul escaping. "Yes, Weiss?"

"You said the name of my friend, Ruby." The heiress asked curiously. "How have you met her before?"

"Oh! That courageous little girl is your pal?" Mado replied in this revelation. "Heheh, sit tight then. She's a curious little one."

* * *

The RWBY dorm felt empty for the leader of the team, lying on her bed with her hand on her forehead while pale moonlight shined through the window. The rest of her team were away doing some errands; Yang was working overtime at Anteiku to get her mind off the ordeal, and Blake was… nowhere to be found again.

Ever since Ryouko's capture and Touka's subsequent outburst, the young Ruby Rose had many things to thoroughly think about. The investigators weren't wrong in saying that ghouls were monsters, but at the same time they couldn't discriminate them all being that bad. She had seen how nice everyone at Anteiku was, so she just couldn't agree with their words.

The same could be said with the ghouls. Not all of them were nice people, as she had seen first-hand with the Nishki Ghoul she encountered before, and the creepy Gourmet made an appearance. Even the ghoul that transformed her into what she was now, Razor, didn't even blink while taking her life.

Ruby didn't want any more violence to occur between her and the doves. She didn't want anyone to get captured; she didn't want anyone to get hurt and most of all she didn't want anyone to get killed.

Her worries already came through, with Ryouko almost being killed by the senior investigators. It was only by her last-ditch gamble on her own life and a little luck that she was only captured. Yet despite that, everyone at Anteiku still felt saddened by a friend being taken prisoner.

The half-ghoul wanted to change this. She mentally told herself that she would train to use the kagune that was given to her, alongside her beloved Crescent Rose. The huntress silently swore to protect her friends. Kaneki, Touka, Hinami, Blake, Yang and… Weiss…

The thought of Weiss once again plagued her. Back in Anteiku, she and her sister were informed that the heiress played a part in pinpointing Hinami and Ryouko's location. Worst of all, it seemed that from Anteiku's sources, Weiss was the one that ended the life of Ryouko's husband. Asaki Fueguchi.

Now the huntress was unsure of how she could ever tell her condition to the heiress. Weiss had already played a part in ghoul hunting, so immediately telling her that one of her best friends was a ghoul would be… extremely unsettling to handle, to say the least.

 _"What can I do…?"_ Ruby muttered under her breath. The huntress decided to relieve herself of this train of thought by having a light snack. The flesh cookies she gotten since day one was always there to keep her hunger in check. The thought of her ever going crazy from the lack of food like she did at first would be pretty bad at this point of time.

Getting down from the bed, Ruby approached a cupboard by the side and took out a jar of red-tinted cookies. She opened the jar and took a single cookie out, believing that one should be enough to sate. Placing the jar back, she was about to take a bite out of it when the door to her dorm opened up.

The appearance of a partially bruised and exhausted Weiss surprised Ruby. The half-ghoul quickly put the cookie down on the table and rushed over to her side.

"Weiss! Are you alright?" The huntress asked with a concerned look.

"Yeah, I'm fine." The heiress replied. She coughed a little before walking over to her bed and taking a seat. "I've… had worse."

"Oh… What happened? Did you have an encounter with the bad guys?" Ruby questioned, taking a seat next to her.

"Well, you can say that." Weiss looked down to the ground with a dismayed look, only making Ruby more worried for her friend.

"You can tell me what happened, I'll hear out your problems." Ruby said.

"Hmm? Why are you caring so much? My problems are my problems, okay…" Weiss pouted, but quickly returned back to her sad look. She sighed heavily before deciding to explain the events that happened.

"One of my associate investigators was… killed today." Weiss told her friend tearfully. "He was killed trying to save me from a ghoul with a rabbit mask."

Ruby felt her eyes widen in shock, putting her hand to her mouth. "That's terrible...!"

"I..." Weiss stumbled. "His funeral's tomorrow and I'm going to attend it. It's the least I can do for him..."

Weiss looked to the pale moonlight by the window, feeling weak and hopeless. Kusaba and Mado saved her from the ghoul, one forced to give up their life. She clenched her fists as the memories swarmed within her mind, angry at both the ghoul and herself.

"I'll make sure that ghoul gets what's coming." She swore. "I'll make sure they'll regret ever taking the life of the innocent, and I'll make sure that everyone last one of those monsters pay."

Ruby, despite being joyful at her teammate having such resolve, couldn't help but feel her spirits go down in a way. Her resolve was being targeted at the species of her friends anyway.

"Well, I can only wish you the best of luck in your um… quest, Queen of Ice."

"I told you not to call me that… dolt…"

"Oh, right… Sorry."

…

…

…

"There's something that's on my mind lately though, Ruby." Weiss began.

"What's on the ball?"

"Well, it's about you." She stated, making the half-ghoul raise a curious eyebrow. "The investigators I work with told me that you did something quite _interesting_..."

The half-ghoul felt a tingle run up her spine, as if the heiress knew of her past actions. "Um, what did I do…?" She asked nervously.

"He told me that you _tried to save the life of a ghoul._ "

Ruby's body now began to quake. Now the half-ghoul was completely on the spot. She couldn't lie about that fact, and even if she did she would come out as blatantly obvious.

"Um… U-Um…! I CAN EXPLAIN!" Ruby shouted in a panic, raising her hands up to the air as if she was being held hostage. Weiss simply raised an eyebrow.

"You don't have to be so dramatic about it, sheesh." The heiress pacified, allowing Ruby to put her hands down and sighed in relief. "All I want to know is why, that's all. It's not like you're going to jail for this, really."

The half-ghoul slowed calmed down, adjusting her posture and putting her hands to her lap. She took in a deep breath before explaining to her the reasoning.

"It's cause… I believe everyone should be treated as equals. Just cause she was a ghoul, doesn't mean she's a bad person. It's kinda like how we first met! It wasn't really on the right foot… since… we don't have two right feet… but we managed to become besties in the end!"

"Wow, you really are naïve aren't you? Ghouls are ghouls, they aren't meant to be socialised with!"

"But… Not all of them can be bad as you think! I think some just want to live their lives normally…"

"I just saw a someone get sliced in half trying to defend me from them. Please tell me you're joking with me!"

"Weiss, just think about it! Do you truly think all ghouls are bad? Aren't you treating them like when you first found out about Blake's species?"

"This is different! Fanus don't eat people!"

"Do you think they want to eat them!?"

Ruby swiftly silenced herself. The choice of words she used was dangerously close to making Weiss suspicious of her. The heiress herself raised an eyebrow at her friend, uncertain of why she would feel sympathy for them.

"Ruby…" Weiss began. "Is there something you're not telling me?"

The half-ghoul felt her left eye twitch at the question, along with her throat slowly drying up. Ruby knew that she couldn't hide her ghoulish nature hidden forever. Lies would only get her so far, and already she hated telling them.

But yet, this was something Ruby simply could not reveal. Weiss would be beyond shocked to know that her best friend and leader was a ghoul the whole time. She literally just told Ruby that someone she was killed from said species anyway.

Ruby mentally groaned. The decision between hide or tell to the heiress was simply too much for the young huntress's mind.

"Um, Remnant to Ruby?" Weiss asked rhetorically, seeing her friend's eyes seemingly go blank. "Hello?"

"Ahhh! Um… Um…" Ruby frantically spurred as she was awoken from her trance. "What was it you were asking?"

"Are you holding anything back from me or what!?"

"Oh I… I… I'm uh…"

"Ruby?"

"I'm not holding anything back! I promise!"

Weiss's crossed her eyes in suspicion at the huntress, feeling unsatisfied with her answer. Despite that however, she decided to drop the topic. It wasn't right for her to pry into just anyone for information.

"You know what, forget I asked…" Weiss got up and made her way to the Door. "Look just… just do us favour and stay safe. We can't have you injuring yourself like before, okay?"

Ruby nodded. "I won't, I promise."

With that, Weiss turned and exited the dorm, leaving the half-ghoul all by herself once more. Ruby mentally groaned once again and hopped up to her bunk bed.

"I wonder what Blake's doing now…?"

* * *

The elevator hummed as it slowly made its ascent up the building, taking quite some time to do so as the facility was quite literally was a tower. Headmaster Ozpin had requested Blake to meet with him at his office, which was why the said Fanus was now looking at her shadow waiting patiently for the elevator to reach the top.

 _"From shadows~"_ Blake hummed a familiar tune holding her hands behind her back. _"We'll descend upon the world, take back what you stole~"_

A ding sound chimed and the elevator doors opened, revealing a wide circular space. Through glass panels on the floor and on the ceiling, large nears were seen working and turning.

"Ahh! Welcome Blake." Ozpin greeted. "Come, have a seat."

Blake made her way to the chair across Ozpin. The headmaster took a sip of his coffee before continuing.

"How has the week been for you? Have you been doing well?"

"I've been good." Blake replied. "What did you want to see me for?"

"Well, allow me to begin." Ozpin said, resting his elbows on the desk and placing his chin upon his fists. "As you know, in order to enrol to this academy, students must first pass a rigorous entrance exam."

"Many applicants spend years of preparation at one of the few combat schools around the world." Ozpin stated, taking another sip of his coffee. "And I am proud to say that Beacon accepts students from almost all walks of life. Poor, rich, human… fanus…"

Blake felt herself instinctively glare at the headmaster, feeling somewhat uncomfortable with the way he was talking.

"But despite how much it's true, there's still one form of life that has yet to be accepted amongst us." Ozpin said solemnly. "They happen to be ghouls."

Blake was visibly taken aback by the surprising statement, ghouls happening to be one of the things in her recent thoughts.

"Um… What do you mean?"

Ozpin took a few moments to pull out his scroll and set it on his desk. Soon after, a large holographic projection of the city of Vale formed within the room. There were several different coloured areas representing the wards, with most of them being neutral blue while a few of them coloured yellow. Two of the areas were dark red in colour, the areas surrounding them being somewhat orange.

"As you can see, the city of Vale has one of the lowest ghoul populations." He explained. Ozpin then pointed to the areas in dark red. "Only these few wards have high concentrations of ghouls, which for the most part are relatively devoid of human or fanus life."

Ozpin then pointed to the areas in blue, specifically the area to the right of the projection. "Beacon is located here, and wards near our academy have little to no ghoul activity at all."

Blake eyes widened, intrigued by the information she was being shown, although small question popped up within her mind.

"Excuse me sir" She began. "Why are you telling me all of this?"

Ozpin cleared his throat and gave Blake a concerned look. "Well, it has mostly to do with your friends. You understand that Weiss has temporarily joined the doves in their program, and the sisters have been working at a coffee shop, all while classes are on hold am I right?"

The fanus nodded in reply, as Ozpin took _yet_ another sip of his coffee.

"Ghouls have always been very interesting to me. Being forced to eat human flesh and only that for the rest of your life, and for what reason? I mean, once you get past that factor, they blend into our society almost as if they never existed..."

Ozpin now stood up from his seat and strolled back and forth in the room with his cup of coffee, a thoughtful look on his face.

"Now allow me to ask some questions, Blake Belladonna." Ozpin said, turning to face the fanus in question.

"What is your opinion of ghouls?"

The Fanus felt a strange tinge ring within her, feeling somewhat unusually nostalgic, but she quickly shrugged it off and gave her response.

"They're… They're monsters, abominations even!" Blake hesitantly proclaimed. "Their only purpose is to eat and kill us all, just like the Grimm."

"That's quite a bold answer you have there, Blake." Ozpin said, walking back to his seat. "It's quite unlike you to discriminate them to calling them, abominations."

The Fanus remained silent, glaring at the headmaster with an unfounded look.

"No matter..." Now Ozpin leaned forward, a solemn look appearing on his features as he began his next question.

"What would you do… if your close friends happen to be these 'abominations' you speak of?"

Now Blake felt a small pinch of guilt running up her throat. The thought had never really occurred to her, with her mind being on the White Fang and whatnot. The Fanus cleared her throat and thought of an answer.

"I… I would… I…" Blake kept stuttering as her mind seemingly went blank from the question. Taking a gulp, the Fanus looked down to the floor.

"I would… I… don't know actually…"

Ozpin eased his posture and gave a Blake an understanding smile. "Perhaps such a question would be too much for you at the moment. I urge you spend some time thinking about it however. Maybe they won't be as bad as those abominations you speak off."

Blake remained quiet, her eyes gazing to the floor.

"Well onto other things; I have a mission for you." Ozpin began. "Do you know of a place called Anteiku?"

Blake looked up from her thoughtful gaze nodded.

"Then, I would for you to send this message to the manager of Anteiku. He goes by the name Yoshimura." Ozpin handed out a small envelop from under his desk to Blake. "Send this envelope to him, and your job is done."

Blake received the envelope and took a quick glance at it. It was nothing special, just a mere generic white letter, but the fact that Ozpin was the one that had it made Blake quite curious. Why did the headmaster know of that small store by the 20th ward, and to carry out a deliver to there of all things?

"You're dismissed. Send Yoshimura my regards."

"Understood."

With that, the fanus headed back to the elevator. She stopped midway however, and turned back to the headmaster.

"With all due respect sir…" Blake began. "May I know why it is Anteiku of all places?"

Ozpin chuckled for a brief moment and sat down his coffee. "Well… let's just say they've been a great help to me in the past."

* * *

Yet another day began at Anteiku, which meant another day for Ruby to serve the customers.

"Um, excuse me new girl?" An old wrinkled man with greying hair called out, a cup of coffee in his hands.

"Yes, mister?" Ruby replied.

"This coffee… tastes a little different than what I'd normally have." The man croaked while taking a sip. "Normally it's a little more roasted and flavourful than this."

"Ah… My apologies sir! I tried my hand at making this blend instead of my sister, but… it didn't turn out that well, huh…" The waiter blushed.

"Don't worry now, its fine dear." The customer reassured. "I'm good with this cup, but just take it as a reminder for next time, okay?"

"Okay!"

"Keh, you still can't beat me at coffee making huh, sis?" Yang taunted from the counter with a proud smirk.

"Hmm… Shut up…" Ruby pouted, making her sister's grin go wider.

In order to take her mind off Weiss' suspicious the other day, Ruby went ahead and worked twice as hard in Anteiku. She even begun to roast some coffee beans herself, but most of them ended up being either sub-par or below average. Yang consistently teased her sister about her failing coffee, which always made her annoyed. She was fine with it though, since it was her sister being as playful as always.

"Lemme give you some advice, Rubes." Yang began. "The coffee beans I use are the rich flavoured Espresso beans. Just make em how you'd normally do, but with a teeny pinch of sugar. Unless they want more, in that case give them whole packet's worth!"

"Um… I don't think dumping an entire bag of sugar into a coffee cup is a good idea…" Ruby commented.

"Aww, you know what I mean… right Ruby?"

Ruby simply deadpanned. "Eh… I think I'll just go grab those beans now…"

The half-ghoul went to the shelves behind the counter and looked through all of them. Her face turned into a frown as she found that those specific coffee beans were nowhere to be found.

Ruby was briefly startled by Yang giving a light nudge to her shoulder. "It's upstairs."

"Oh…"

Blushing out of embarrassment, the half-ghoul quickly made her way to the storage room above. Jars of beans were always stored there.

As she climbed up the wooden stairs, she suddenly heard the sound of glass shattering. Ruby immediately began rushing up to check what happened.

Ruby's eyes widened as she saw Touka wincing in pain on the floor, clutching her shoulder. A jar of coffee beans were spilt all over the floor, but that wasn't the main concern right now.

"Touka!" The half-ghoul cried in a shock. Ruby immediately dashed towards the raven-haired girl's side.

"Go away!" Touka shouted. Ruby halted her sprint and stood in place, briefly stunned by the ghoul's rejection of assistance.

"Touka…" Was all she could mutter while looking at the fellow friend endure the pain. Ruby could've sworn the shoulder area of Touka's waitress outfit slowly turned damp red.

"What's going on here?" Right at the moment, Kaneki walked into the room the girls were at. His eyes widened similarly to Ruby's as he immediately became worried for the ghoul waitress.

"Both of you leave me alone **this instant**." The wounded ghoul stated venomously, sending a chill up Kaneki's spine. Immediately after, she quickly got on her feet and dashed out of the room.

Not willing to allow her friend to suffer alone, Ruby dashed out of the room intent on assisting her friend no matter what. "Touka, wait!"

This left Kaneki alone in the kitchen, still looking at the doorway the girls left. He took one last glance at the spilt coffee beans on the ground, before deciding to help Touka as well.

"Touka got involved with the doves, didn't she…"

The sound of Yoshimura's voice alerted Kaneki, as said manager walked into the room.

"She did? I didn't know…" Kaneki replied. "But that doesn't matter. Touka's wounded and we have to treat-"

"No."

"Huh? But sir she's-"

" **No.** I'm not going to repeat myself. **"**

Kaneki gave a concerned look to the unusually strict manager, whose wrinkled features curled into a solemn face.

"She's knows what she has done, and she's prepared to take up the burden alone. Whatever happens to her is none of our concern."

"Sir… Doesn't Anteiku exist to help ghouls like her? Why do you say to not lend her help now?"

Yoshimura's opened his eyes for a brief moment. The half-ghoul felt a small chill climb up his back as it showed red and black Kakugans. "We provide food for ghouls who are incapable or unable to find food for themselves, or are pacifistic and would hate to kill humans. What we don't provide nor appreciate is the pointless hunting of ghoul investigators and the like."

"Sir…"

"If Touka cannot sate her thirst for revenge then by all means I will not watch over her. **Whether she lives or dies is none of our concern.** "

Kaneki was at a loss of words. Yoshimura had some valid points, but at the same time he could not just let Touka go through this all alone. He felt his throat go dry as he thought of a way to convince the manager, but to his dismay he could not think of anything.

"Well… maybe I'm being a little too harsh."

Kaneki looked up to see the manager no longer in a serious mood but instead having an unusually kind smile. "If I'm not wrong Ruby should be assisting Touka at the moment. I'm sure her stubborn kindness would be enough to disregard my statements."

Yoshimura gave the boy a pat on the back. "I understand that you want to help her despite me telling you not to, and it's perfectly fine to do so. You still have a lot to learn about the ghoul world, am I right?"

Kaneki nodded and cleared his throat. "Of course. Ruby and I have not seen the world through ghoul eyes, and we barely understand how the ghoul society works. I know that you have years of experience being a ghoul to get this far, and I don't want to be so useless to everyone..."

Clenching his fists, the half-ghoul looked up to Yoshimura with determination in his eyes. "So I'm gonna see it for myself."

* * *

"Touka!" Ruby shouted through the alleyway that laid behind Anteiku. "Touka! Where are you!?"

Despite being injured, the raven-haired ghoul was able to outpace the huntress and get out of her sight. Though Ruby could have caught her by using her semblance, the thought of actually using it didn't really ring to her at the time.

A metal clang could be heard from afar, which caught Ruby's attention. The huntress quickly rushed towards the source, hoping that Touka could be found there.

The half-ghoul felt a wave of relief as she spotted Touka sitting by a metal generator by the back alley of Anteiku. Ruby immediately made her way next to Touka and surveyed her wound. It was wrapped up with bandages, albeit loose. " _She must've wrapped them up herself."_ Ruby mused.

"I'll get some medical equipment, alright; Those bandages aren't enough! Stay here I'll be right back!" She reassured Touka, turning to leave for supplies.

"Don't waste your time." The raven haired girl stated, pausing Ruby in her tracks. "I probably deserve to suffer anyway."

"What? No!" Ruby retorted. "You're my friend, don't say things like that!"

Touka kept silent and looked to the floor. She tapped her finger on the generator she leaned on to a rhythm that she played within her mind.

"Well, friends help each other out in times of need am I right to say?"

"Of course we do!"

"Then in that case…" Touka relaxed her posture and leaned her head against the generator, her eyes gazing to the sky above. "Kill the doves for me."

Ruby's widened her eyes in shock. She was not expecting such a request from her in the slightest. Touka simply gave a weak smile in response.

"Speechless? Of course you are. You're able kill Grimm for days on end but you can never hurt that innocent little fly buzzing around."

"Touka…"

"Save your breath. It isn't worth it for a murderer like me."

"…Murderer…?"

"Don't act surprised. You know I've killed people in order to eat. The doves aren't any exception."

Silence moaned throughout the alleyway. There was nothing Ruby was able to say at the moment, her mind going blank over the whole ordeal.

…

…

…

"Ghouls like Ryouko and Hinami… Humans like you and Yang…" Touka mumbled. "I know that there are good people among them. Humans only want to protect themselves from being eaten by ghouls, but the pointless killing of ghouls who only wish to live their lives…"

Touka looked up to Ruby with dropping eyes and a weak smile. Her grip on her wound went loose. "I'm glad that Ryouko didn't die. But for her to get captured doesn't change the fact that the doves have taken one of our own..."

"Touka…"

"But still, murderers like me should just die off in a corner. I've killed a dove not long ago… He died trying to protect one of his friends, that girl… never mind…"

Ruby walked to Touka and sat down next to her, leaning her back against the same metal surface the ghoul was leaning on.

"Touka, there are many things I don't know about the ghoul world or how it works… All my life I've wanted to become a huntress, but ever since I've become partially a ghoul, that goal may not work out quite as I expected it to…"

Touka turned her head to find Ruby showing a compassionate smile.

"I know I'm nowhere as experienced as you or anyone at Anteiku. I'm not even sure what Kagune is! It's probably one of those special abilities that you all have that humans don't and I really want to know how to use it!"

"…Hmm…?"

"I'm good at fighting Grimm but I'm not good at fighting people, especially if it's to kill… I know that you've killed people in order to survive, and as much as possible I don't want to think too much into what your past is, but I know that it's necessary for you to stay alive. I don't blame you for killing others."

Ruby's basic understanding of how Touka worked made her eyes open up.

"The time will come where I can't keep my secret from the rest of my friends forever. I'll need to spill the beans at some point and I can only hope they'll accept me for who I am. Friends help each other in times of need and you're my friend too, so help me learn how to use my Kagune. I don't want to be in a pinch when Crescent Rose can't be used."

Ruby stood up and offered a hand to Touka. "But before that, let's get your wound patched up. You may have good regeneration but tending to the wound won't hurt, right?"

Touka smiled. "Of course it won't."

The raven-haired ghoul grabbed onto the half-ghoul's hand, and the half-ghoul pulled Touka up to her feet.

"Touka! Where are you?" The familiar voice of a fellow half-ghoul echoed from the alleyway. "I've got some medical equipment!"

"Kaneki…! Let's meet up with him. We could train our kagunes together!"

"Alright, it's fine with me."

* * *

 _End_

 **"Two-Three weeks" yeah right. Best lie you lazy bozo...**

Hope you enjoy. Reviews are **_greatly appreciated_** as long as it isn't just insults and are constructive to me.

Ruby's Kagune shall appears, you shall not worry. I'm finally free for 2 months so expect chapters popping up.

To be honest, my passion for RWBY and TG has been dying over the month of January, but no matter. I will complete this story to where the climax shall prevail.

 **See you in _hopefully_ less than two weeks.**


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